Replacing Aidy Boothroyd, Andy Thorn suffered only two defeats in ten as he guided Coventry City to safety in his role as caretaker boss to close 2010-11.

Even so, the Midlands club were still tipped for relegation prior to the start of this season, with Thorn – who had led his side 13 points clear of the drop zone – preparing for his first campaign as a full-time manager.

With one half of the season behind us, Sports Mole takes a look back at how the side has fared so far.

August

Beginning their season at home against Leicester, the side struggled to silence their critics and fell to their first opening day defeat in ten years following Carl Baker's first-half dismissal.

Thorn was unable to stop them from suffering four consecutive losses to open the season, but the club were able to take a point apiece from Watford and on the road at Middlesbrough.

City also crashed out of the Carling Cup at the first hurdle on the road at League One side Bury.

September

Thorn led the Midlands outfit to a two-goal triumph over third-place Derby County to start September, but couldn't overcome Ipswich Town at Portman Road.

Back-to-back draws with Reading and Blackpool at the Ricoh Arena gave the club five points from four games in the second month of the season and pushed them out of the drop zone on goal difference.

However, with Carl Baker out for up to five weeks after rupturing ankle ligaments, Thorn saw his side stretched even further.

October

Defeat on the road to struggling Barnsley bumped Thorn and company into the relegation zone, before three points against Nottingham Forest allowed them to leapfrog Steve Cotterill's side and into 19th place in the Championship.

With two points from their next three games – including a trip to second-from-bottom Doncaster – the club slid back into the bottom three, one point adrift of Watford over the Halloween weekend.

November

The situation went from bad to worse in November as the club lost four of five games, including a disappointing defeat at Millwall, and fell nearer to the bottom of the table.

A point at home against Cardiff kept Thorn's side level on points with Doncaster, who were beneath them on goal difference alone.

Meanwhile, despite being directly above them in the standings, Bristol City sat six points ahead of the Sky Blues.

December

Defeat at Portsmouth, Peterborough and at home to Hull allowed Doncaster to drive ahead of the Midlands side in December, leaving them six points behind at the bottom of the table and eight-points deep in the drop zone.

However, a Christmas win at home against Bristol kept Thorn's side in the race for survival.

While still at the bottom of the league, the club are now just a six-point swing from climbing out of the relegation places with half a season to go.