Mark Robins admits it must be “horrendous” for summer signing Raphael Borges Rodrigues, who is yet to kick a ball in anger for Coventry City.
The 21-year-old winger signed from Australian A League side Macarthur FC in the summer but pulled up with a thigh strain in the early summer pre-season training friendly against Port Vale, and has been battling back to fitness ever since.
“There’s progress but it’s very slow going,” revealed Robins, when asked for an update on the right-sided player, who is hoped to compete with Tatsuhiro Sakamoto when he finally returns to full fitness.
“The difficulty is that it is not an exact science. You can push people too hard and they can break down. The medical and sports science department are treating him with kid gloves and hoping that they don’t break him, on the understanding he’s getting stronger.
“We have just got to be careful with him. If I grab hold of him and try to get him out on the grass and up to speed too quickly, chances are that he’ll break down again. But he has got to become robust to have a career in the game. And whilst it’s disappointing, it must be horrendous for him and really frustrating because he came here looking to hit the ground running.”
Robins is certainly hoping that he will be like having a new player when the player, who wants to be known just as ‘Raphael’ in a nod to his Brazilian dad and former professional striker, Cristiano dos Santos Rodrigues.
“He’s a good player with a lot of really good attributes there, so he could be a really exciting addition,” he said, “but obviously, it’s going to take a little bit more time than we expected, or anticipated. We have just got to accept it.”
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