Coventry City boss addresses midfield option for centre-back in post-Hamer era
Coventry City news from CoventryLive as Mark Robins discusses his midfield options in the post-Hamer era
It’s no secret that Mark Robins was hoping to sign a central midfielder in the summer transfer window following the sale of star man Gustavo Hamer to Sheffield United.
In the event the Sky Blues boss was unable to get one over the line before Friday’s trading deadline, leaving his squad seemingly light in strength in depth in such a key position.
Centre-back Joel Latibeaudiere, meanwhile, plays as a holding midfielder for his country, Jamaica. Given that fact, CoventryLive asked the City manager if the summer signing from Swansea could be an option at some stage in the middle of the park.
“Well, potentially,” he said, “but I am not really looking at that. He’s a defender first and foremost, and I think he needs to know where he needs to be, and I have got other players for that position.”
Josh Eccles has been impressing alongside the outstanding Ben Sheaf so far while skipper Liam Kelly has been used sparingly this term despite being one of the key figures in City’s play-off campaign at the back end of last season. Elsewhere, Jamie Allen and Callum O’Hare are both due back from injury in the coming weeks.
“The fact that we didn’t sign anybody else isn’t too big a thing,” insisted Robins. “Having said that, when you lose a player like Gus…
“But we have got Yasin Ayari in and he’s a player who can develop into something. He’s different to anything else we have got but it’s an opportunity for the likes of Josh Eccles, Jamie Allen and others really, and it’s a case of looking at what we have got because I can do different things. It opens different things up for us and gives us a bit of flexibility.”
