The Sky Blues only need a point at Ewood Park to guarantee promotion to the Premier League after an impressive campaign under Frank Lampard.
But Rovers are also desperate for points as they battle to pull away from the relegation zone and preserve their Championship status.
“I said to the players, if you’re not invited to the party, it’s a nice thing to try and spoil it and that’s what we have to do,” said O’Neill.
“They’ll bring a big away support – as did West Brom, Preston and Middlesbrough, in particular – but we’ve handled those games well. We’re unbeaten in any of those games.
“Our home form has been challenging all season and we have to try and address that. We have two home games left and we play a team that’s top of the league.
“But every game in this Championship is winnable. You see the results during the week and the results Portsmouth have had recently.
“You have to stay in the game for as long as possible when you’re at the you know the lower end of the table – particularly when you play the top sides – and again the game can become more difficult for them.
“Our objective is to make the game difficult for Coventry but obviously bring our own level of performance to the game as well.”
O’Neill has often had to set up Northern Ireland to be resilient and tough to break down against teams who dominate possession.
“We have to be realistic about where we are as a team at this minute in time and the situation we have, with key players missing as well,” he added.
“A lot of my career, particularly in international football, I’ve had to set a team up to play against teams with superior players.
O’Neill says the fans have a big role to play (Image: CameraSport – Richard Martin-Roberts)
“You know if you don’t do that, you can be heavily beaten and my job is to set up a team to make it difficult for Frank Lampard.
“Regardless of how the game is or how the game plays out, it’s not a concern to me that the game is on television.
“The concern for me is that our team are difficult to beat and we play from that platform and obviously carry a threat as well.”
Lampard has earned plaudits for the job he has done at Coventry, initially taking over in November 2024 when the side was sitting 17th in the table. They finished in the play-offs last term but came up short against Sunderland.
“I haven’t seen them this season but they’re in a very strong position in the league obviously and they’ve been top of the league for a long time,” said O’Neill.
“Frank’s done a great job, there’s no doubt about that, and I think over what remains in the season, they’ll be playing Premier League football next year. But hopefully we can delay the celebration.”
It is Rovers’ penultimate home fixture of the campaign and the head coach insisted that the supporters have a big role to play.
O’Neill knows that the form at Ewood Park has not been good enough this season but vowed that the players and the staff will give everything to get over the line.
“Even the fact that we had 300 fans down at Southampton on a Tuesday night shows the dedication of the fanbase,” he said.
“The home games have not been easy for this group of players all season and it always helps if you’ve got a strong fanbase and they’re backing you all the way.
“We need that in the remaining two home games. The club’s at a critical point in terms of survival in the Championship.
“No-one wants to be playing in League One next season – the fanbase don’t want that, the ownership don’t want it, the players don’t want it and certainly the staff don’t want it, so we all play a part in that.
“All I can promise the fanbase is, since the period I’ve come in here the application of this group of players has been first class.
“They’ve barely had a day off, they’re in playing regularly, preparing for games, and hopefully we can get the necessary points and give a bright end to the season for the fanbase as well.”