What’s happened to Fab Tav, Sheaf demand and luckless Jodi – Coventry City notebook

Coventry City get back to action this week with a CBS Arena double header, starting with Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday night before Saturday’s visit of Sheffield Wednesday.

The pressure is on after just one Championship win from the Sky Blues’ opening seven games, leaving the club languishing at the bottom end of the table despite a summer of great expectations.

Here we take a look at what’s going on in and around the football club in what could be a pivotal week for Mark Robins’ men as they look to finally get their season up and running.

 

 

What’s happened to Fab Tav?

Fabio Tavares appears to fallen off the radar this season after threatening to finally establish himself as an influential member of City’s first team squad last term.

The Portuguese forward made 10 senior showings last term, starting with a milestone appearance in the 6-2 FA Cup third round thumping of Oxford United in January, a year on from rupturing his Achilles against Wrexham at the same stage of the competition.

He went on to score two goals to help sink Maidstone 5-0 in the fifth round before stepping off the bench to add a fifth goal to a 5-0 thumping of Rotherham in the league. And after being used as an impact sub in the sensational 3-2 victory at Wolves, he went one better with a superb cameo against Manchester United in the semi-final at Wembley, during which he had to go off with ankle ligament damage that ruled him out of the remainder of the campaign.

Big things were hoped for the rapid 23-year-old, but the summer saw him come close to a deadline day loan move to Reading in the final year of his contract, albeit Robins insisted: “I think with Fabio, I am happy that didn’t materialise. You can’t have too many strikers, but then they have got to perform and be ready to go.”

Tavares was an unused sub for the opening-day defeat at Stoke and then made his one and only start of the new season at Bristol City in the 1-0 Carabao Cup win, where he was replaced just after an hour.

Since then he has appeared twice more on the bench, against Norwich and Watford, but otherwise not managed to make the matchday squad.

He played and scored for the Under-21s last week in their 2-1 win over Hull at Leamington.

Asked about the player, Robins told CoventryLive: “Fabio is OK. I am just picking from the squad that I have got that’s going to give us, I think, the strongest squad that we have. But he’s just got to keep going. He’s part of this group and he’s just got to keep his head down and keep working hard.”

Captain’s call

Ben Sheaf is in a confident mood ahead of Tuesday night’s CBS Arena clash with Blackburn Rovers. The Sky Blues skipper, who made his first start of the season in a highly forgettable 3-0 defeat at Leeds at the weekend, is determined that he and his teammates “put things right,” starting against John Eustace’s Rovers side, who are currently flying high in third place in the table.

“I’m happy to be back out there, it’s been a frustrating time for me personally, but it was nice to get a competitive start, my first one since last game of last season,” said Sheaf, who suffered an ankle injury in pre-season.

“I was pleased to get back out there, but it was a disappointing day overall.”

He added: “I felt good, I’m not match fit yet and that will take a period of time, but other than that I felt good. We didn’t start too well or put enough pressure on them and probably gave them too much respect.

“We didn’t get after them in the right areas, they were decent in the first half but we didn’t lay a glove on them. Second half we started OK, but then the second goal kills it and we’re trying to chase the game and they sit in, and we have to break them down. It was just disappointing.

“We wanted to be more on the front foot and apply more pressure higher up the pitch and it felt that way, but they break down the right and the second goal kills it.”

The players and staff had a discussion after the game, when Mark Robins reminded everyone why they do what they do.

“We had a good chat and some positive bits came out of it, but we have to remember that we do this because we love it,” said the 26-year-old.

“The gaffer said it’s a Saturday afternoon, this is what you want to do. The games are tough but that’s when you want to dig deep and relish those moments.”

He added: “We just need to find a bit more grit and quality on the ball, because we didn’t use the ball well enough when we had it and that was disappointing, because if you’re good with the ball you don’t have to run as much, and it saves your legs.”

Turning his attention to this week, the midfielder said: “We have Tuesday now and it’s a quick turnaround and a good opportunity to try and put things right. We haven’t had too many 90-minute performances where we’ve played well all game. I’m confident it will come, the confidence will come in the group at some point, we just need it to click and I’m sure it will.”

Poor Jodi

Former Sky Blues favourite Jodi Jones faces more testing time on the sidelines after suffering a small bone fracture against Gillingham at the weekend.

The 26-year-old has re-built his career since leaving Coventry, during which time he endured horrendous luck with injuries with three ACL ruptures. However, he enjoyed a terrific season last year, including earning international honours for Malta, and has started this term flying, having scored four goals in his last five games to help Notts County to fourth in the League Two table.

The Magpies, however, confirmed today: “Jodi Jones is likely to be unavailable until the new year after sustaining a small fracture to his tibia.

“The winger couldn’t continue after receiving a heavy challenge in our recent league fixture against Gillingham and scans have revealed that he is facing a spell on the sidelines. We look forward to welcoming you back into contention for the second half of the season.”