Mark Robins is hoping to avoid a midfield crisis at Coventry City in the coming days and weeks. Fans are still waiting news on the severity of Jamie Allen’s knee ligament injury suffered against Swansea, resulting in the player leaving the CBS Arena in a knee brace and hobbling to his car on crutches.
At a time when City’s midfield feels particularly light in depth following the inability to add strength in that department in the summer, everyone is hoping Allen is out for a matter of weeks rather than months.
The good news, of course, is that the injury comes at a time when Ben Sheaf has returned to the Sky Blues’ matchday squad, albeit yet to get through more than 20 minutes, let alone start a game. He will undoubtedly need time to get his match fitness and sharpness back after such a lengthy lay-off with an ankle injury.
That being the case, Robins appears to have three options at his disposal in the meantime – Josh Eccles, Victor Torp and Joel Latibeaudiere. Jack Rudoni is another, albeit that would leave a hole in the number ten role he’s been occupying so far this season.
Eccles has grown in stature in the last two games after being handed the “honour” of captaining his home town club, putting in really mature performances. Latibeaudiere, of course, plays a holding midfield role for Jamaica but has been used sparingly in that position by Robins, although he did make one notable contribution in this weekend’s corresponding fixture at Elland Road last season when his spoiling tactics worked a treat, helping City earn a deserved point.
But what about Torp, the man who made an immediate impact at the club when he thumped home a spectacular long range effort on his Sky Blues debut? The 25-year-old understandably needed time to adjust and adapt to the rigours of the English second tier, having come from the Norwegian top flight last January. A decent, full pre-season under his belt was hoped to see the player get up to speed.
Nine games into the new campaign in all competitions, however, and his manager is left wanting more.
“Torpy has done pretty well,” said Robins, assessing his start to the season. “He’s still finding his feet, he’s still getting to grips with the Championship but he’s a really good player and you have seen glimpses of what’s there. It’s just a case of needing him to get that out on a more consistent basis or for us to get it out of him more consistently.”
Rudoni, meanwhile, is by common consent one of the brighter performers amid City’s stuttering start, and yet Robins still wants more from the summer signing from Huddersfield.
“Jack has come in and done really, really well through pre-season and into the season,” said the Coventry boss. “What I would like to see from him is more shots on goal. I want them to move the ball quickly and get out of this mode where too many players are running with the ball, or having too many touches of the ball in tight or poor areas. If we can get players making better decisions in certain areas that will benefit us in the longer run.”
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