KEEP ‘EM GUESSING
ROBINS WEIGHS UP HIS SKY BLUES OPTIONS FOR TRIP TO LEADERS IN QUEST FOR FIRST AWAY WIN OF SEASON
MARK Robins insists he’s not ruled out Coventry City’s top scorer Matty Godden from making his first return to Peterborough United today.
The 28-year-old striker has sat out the last two Sky Blues games with an old groin issue that has flared up and remains a doubt for the League One fixture against his former club, from whom he joined City for a reported £750,000 in the summer.
But the player is “desperate” to play against Posh and it appears his manager will give him as long as possible before making a final decision on his fitness.
Asked about his availability, Robins said: “There’s nothing new. We’re still waiting for the information to come through and an appointment with the specialist next week.
“He’s a doubt, 100 per cent, but I’ve not ruled him out because I have to see what happens in training today. I’d be daft to rule anyone out.
“He’ll be desperate to play, absolutely.”
Robins knows Godden has to ensure his desire to play doesn’t cloud the player’s judgement on his injury.
“You need players to be honest but sometimes they don’t know,” he said.
“I won’t knowingly play a player with an injury unless it’s something insignificant that won’t put them at risk, because that’s the key thing.
“And the physio will tell me if I can’t play a player, and the reasons why.
“It’s always an interesting one but you just want everyone as fit as they can be going into important periods of the season.”
Robiuns, however, says Jordy Hiwula will be fit. Hiwula was substituted at half-time on Wednesday in the home win against Fleetwood Town after revealing he was struggling with an ankle injury he’d picked up in training the day before but not said anything,
“Jordy is absolutely fine,” said Robins. “It was just a knock in training on the previous day but he’s OK.”
Whether Robins keeps faith with Hiwula remains to be seen, especially given the forward’s current lack of confidence in front of goal at a time when Max Biamou is champing after an impressive second-half showing against Fleetwood.
Meanwhile, Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson has warned his table-topping players they must improve if they are to beat Coventry.
Posh sit top of the table after a 4-0 win against Accrington on Wednesday but the Sky Blues could go level with them if they win today.
And Ferguson has singled them out as one of the division’s underrated sides.
“Everyone says how well we have done so far, but if Coventry beat us they catch us on points which tells you how good they have been,” said Ferguson.
“They have a lot of good attacking players, good midfielders, an experienced defence and an experienced manager in Mark Robins.”