Mark Robins delivers a sobering report on two Coventry City injuries
After the match against Cardiff City, the Sky Blues manager received some alarming information about Ben Sheaf and Milan van Ewijk.
Ben Sheaf of Coventry City will be sidelined for at least six weeks due to a groin injury, according to Mark Robins.
Sheaf and Gus Hamer’s departure means that Coventry may need to discover a new strategy for dismantling rival teams, acknowledges Robins.
During the Cardiff City game, Milan van Ewijk also sustained an injury, but it is unknown how serious it is or how long he will be out.
After Friday night’s 3-2 loss to Cardiff City, Coventry City received further dismal news that was verified.
In fact, Sky Blues manager Mark Robins provided a fairly depressing injury update on Ben Sheaf and Milan van Ewijk during a press conference.
Sheaf was injured during the weekend but was unable to participate in Coventry’s game against Hull City.
Van Ewijk, meanwhile, was pulled off the field yesterday night early due to an unspecified thigh ailment.
What has Mark Robins stated on the hurt Ben Sheaf?
Speaking after the Hull City clash at the weekend, Robins confirmed that Sheaf was suffering with a groin issue.
“He’s strained his groin,” Robins told the media at the weekend, via CoventryLive.
“Well, it’s actually an adductor and he’ll be out for an unspecified period of time.
“It’s going to be at least a couple of weeks, I would have thought.”
It turns out, though, that the ‘couple of weeks’ timeline above was a rather optimistic one, with Robins confirming that Sheaf was now set to be out for at least six weeks
Ben is going to be out for a minimum of six weeks, which is a huge blow because that was the one area where we didn’t really strengthen in the summer,” Robins explained to the media after the Cardiff clash on Tuesday, via CoventryLive.
With Gus Hamer having gone in the summer, and Sheaf now sidelined, Robins admitted he may have to ‘do things in a different way’ for the time being.
“Losing Gus [Hamer] we have lost 70 percent of our success rate in terms of his passing, but his passing was always penetrative and always got through teams, and that was what we were missing in large spells of the game. And that’s the challenge for us, moving forward, as to how we can break teams down.” Robins added.
“I have just got to make sure we have got enough in there or we might have to do things in a different way for the time being, but really we have to be braver than that because we have got good players in there that generally do the job.
“But, for whatever reason, for the two thirds of the first half we didn’t cause Cardiff any issues what-so-ever.”
What has Mark Robins said about Milan van Ewijk’s injury?
As touched upon above, Milan van Ewijk was taken off early during the Cardiff City clash on Tuesday night, and after the match, Robins explained why that was, but is unclear on just how long he could be out for, or how serious it is.
“He [van Ewijk] felt his thigh but whether it’s a strain or a tear or not, I don’t know yet,” Robins explained to the media, via CoventryLive.
“He felt it at the end of the first half but he wanted to carry on.
“There wasn’t a loss of power, which suggests it’s not something that’s huge, but if you feel something like that, but that’s another thing, players have got to understand their bodies because it can become a compounded problem if they carry on.
“I can understand if they want to stay on the pitch but they have got to be sensible too because we can’t afford to get too many injuries.”
Who do Coventry City face next in the Championship?
Coventry City’s next Championship fixture is set to take place on Monday 25th September when they host Huddersfield Town at the CBS Arena.
Ben Sheaf definitely won’t be fit for that one, and it will certainly be interesting to follow developments and find out the sort of timeline Milan van Ewijk is looking at in terms of his return, too.
