‘Unbelievable’ Coventry City pair eye return ahead of Hull trip as fresh injuries assessed

Coventry City injury news from CoventryLive as Jamie Allen and Callum O’Hare prepare to return to the group for training ahead of the trip to Hull

Coventry City are boosted by the imminent return of two “unbelievable” players from long-term injuries during the international break.

Sky Blues manager Mark Robins says he’s “excited” at the prospect of Jamie Allen and Callum O’Hare returning to full training with the group, with Allen appearing to have a chance of being involved in the trip to Hull a week on Friday.

 

The high-energy central midfielder missed pre-season after a close season heart scare while O’Hare has been out for nine months after suffering an ACL rupture on Boxing Day, and isn’t likely to travel to Hull.

Robins was hoping to recruit another midfielder before Friday’s transfer deadline passed to boost his squad number in the wake of Gustavo Hamer’s August sale to Sheffield United, but was only able to add centre-back Liam Kitching from Barnsley.

Saturday, meanwhile, saw three players leave the field with injuries, with Jay Dasilva ending up in a protective boot following a heavy challenge, Milan van Ewijk being withdrawn with a tight hamstring and Kasey Palmer being replaced due to a sore knee, putting the playmaker’s call up for international duty with Jamaica in doubt.

But Robins said: “The big thing for me is that I will have Jamie Allen back training in the week leading up to the Hull game and then not too far after that I think Callum O’Hare will be dipping in and out of the training sessions leading up to that as well, so that will be a process as well.

 

“And that’s exciting because we’ll have two unbelievable players back that give you energy and quality and things that we have missed. So the fact that we didn’t sign anybody else isn’t too big a thing. Having said that, when you lose a player like Gus…

“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.”

 

He added: “Ultimately we need the players who are injured back because they are big players for us – Jamie and Callum coming back in, and Fabio Tavares is not too far behind them so hopefully we will have a decent squad. But the fact of the matter is that if we lose any to suspension or injury then that makes us a little bit light.

“But it is what it is and you can only do as well as you can do and work as hard as you possibly can to make it happen, and that’s what’s happened.”