Travel illness, a free agent, and a fan favorite return to Coventry City’s notepad
CoventryLive gives you the most recent Coventry City news as we take a look at what’s going on with the Sky Blues this week as Mark Robins prepares his team to face Norwich.
Coventry City will be in great form heading into the international break if they win their third Championship game in three days. The Sky Blues will face seventh-place Norwich City at the CBS Arena after defeating QPR 3-1 at Loftus Road last Saturday and excellently following that up with a 1-0 triumph over Blackburn Rovers in the middle of the week.
In the lead-up to the game against the Canaries, Mark Robins’ major concerns are twofold: coming up with a strategy to deal with yet another central midfield injury and allowing his healthy players enough time off to recover so they aren’t overexhausted from the demanding schedule of three games in a week. Jamie Allen, who has started the previous two games after just getting back from a summer heart ailment, is his biggest worry.
In this article, we examine the club’s internal and external developments as we approach Saturday’s important home matchup with one of the division’s front-runners for promotion.
Mark Robins acknowledges that his previous team Norwich City have developed into something of a bogey team for the Sky Blues in recent seasons. He is desperate to reverse this trend when his team hosts David Wagner’s team this weekend. The Canaries defeated Coventry twice in the 2022–23 Championship, winning both games, 4–2 at the CBS Arena in January and 3-0 at Carrow Road earlier in the season.
The teams faced off against each other three times in the 2020–21 campaign, with City losing all three games. The Norfolk side defeated City 2-0 at St Andrew’s, while the Sky Blues managed to snare a late point in a 1–1 draw at home thanks to Max Biamou and lost 2-0 at their place in the FA Cup.
By no means have we performed admirably against Norwich, according to Robins. We’ve actually played poorly against them, in fact. I believe that we can look at this situation and perform better than we have in the past, which includes only earning one point in our last four league games. And since there were no people during COVID at the time, this is unquestionably an opportunity.
Norwich, meanwhile, enters the CBS Arena having lost their past four away games, including 6-2 thrashings against division newcomers Plymouth Argyle and Rotherham, 2-1 losses at Swansea, an EFL Cup loss at Fulham.As a result, Mark Robins is preparing for some criticism, saying: “They’re a terrific side full of talented players, but they’ve lost four games away from home in the last four games and they’ve been disappointed.
“There is no denying that there have been some changes and that there have been injuries. Grant Hanley is another person who is out, while Josh Sargent is hurt and recovering from surgery. However, they’ve added seasoned players who have played at higher levels, are familiar with the league, and have actual talent back in the squad. In order to benefit from the game, we must thus really give it our all. However, even when we give it our all, it might not be enough. But I’m simply worried about making sure we always have adequate energy on the field.
Speaking of Biamou, he returned to the CBS Arena on Wednesday night to support the team that he still clearly holds dear to his heart. Interestingly, the 32-year-old has made only a few appearances after being released by the Sky Blues in the summer of 2021. He then briefly played for Dundee United, appearing just three times off the bench. The French striker has a history of injuries, but he recently underwent surgery and recovered, and he is now looking for a new team to help revive his career. Gus Hamer, a former City star who obviously has deep ties to the club, was also present once more.
Haji Wright’s magnificent match-winning header against Blackburn on Wednesday night, which was his second in 10 league appearances overall, is something Mark Robins is hoping would have inspired.
“I think with the strikers they always tend to be confidence players and the goals that go in sometimes are instinctive,” the manager remarked. “You witnessed that with Ellis last Saturday against QPR and with Haji the night before. He was in the correct location as Yasin’s shot bounced off the goalkeeper and into the air, necessitating some more than instinctive action on his part to propel himself into the air. Timing and skill are important, but they are all controlled by muscle memory.
We must keep in mind that he is an international player, he continued. He has scored goals at the international level, and he will benefit much from this. That was evident in his post-game celebration with the players.
Leave a Reply