Skipper Kelly set to return for Swans’ visit
MARK Robins’ Coventry City team selection is being hampered by injuries, suspension and period of self isolation.
It’s certainly a testing time for the Sky Blues as they look to put valuable early points on the Championship board after stepping up to the second tier.
Robins will be hoping for an instant pick-me-up for his players who are back in action tonight when they take on Swansea City at St Andrew’s.
City have already taken three points against QPR at the groundshare venue that proved such a happy hunting ground last season, and will be hoping to prosper again on their adopted ‘home’ soil.
The manager, however, will again be without a number of players including key midfielder Gus Hamer, who will be serving the second of a three match ban for his red card against Bournemouth.
And striker Tyler Walker is also missing due to testing positive for COVID-19 on Friday.
Thankfully asymptomatic, Walker has to isolate for a period of ten days, which means he misses the next two games on top of Saturday’s defeat at Brentford.
Added to the manager’s selection headache is the fact that star wingback Fankaty Dabo is nursing a neural back/hamstring injury which forced him to sit out at the weekend and probably this midweek as well.
So what are City’s options? Well, Robins tinkered with his formation at the weekend, going with two strikers up top and deploying just one holding midfielder in Ben Sheaf against the Bees.
But he switched back to his tried and trusted box midfield and lone striker Matty Godden in the second half due to the system not really having the desired effect with Amadou Bakayoko as the second striker.
As such, it’s expected that he will revert back to Godden leading the line with two supporting attacking midfielders in Jamie Allen and Callum O’hare.
As for the middle of the park, Sheaf may well receive some much needed support from fit-again skipper Liam Kelly, who was an unused sub at the Brentford Community Stadium.
The 30-year-old adds vital experience with his calm head and protection and good use of the ball, helping to get City on the front foot and attacking the opposition.
As for the other big problem area, at right wing-back, it’s fair to say Sam Mccallum has put himself in the box seat for selection against the Swans.
Although a left sided player by trade, Mccallum replaced Josh Pask on the hour at the weekend when he made an immediate impact with some impressive forward play. Pask is a centre-half by trade and did OK defensively but City’s game is all based around the
wing-backs getting forward and causing the opposition problems.
Another option for the position could be Gervane Kastaneer - the Dutch forward having filled in there admirably in pre-season – but whether or not Robins is ready to trust him with the defensive side of the job remains to be seen.
Certainly, Mccallum would appear to be the safer option of the two to provide balance to the side that has Ryan Giles attacking down the opposite flank.
There is another option in Leo Ostigard. The Norway international could play at right-back or even do a job as a wing-back. With so many games in such a short space of time, Robins could also opt to rest 33-year-old Kyle Mcfadzean, which would result in Ostigard returning to the back three.