‘There’ll be takers’ – Coventry City boss expects enquiries for eye-catching pre-season performer
Coventry City pre-season news from CoventryLive as Sky Blues boss Mark Robins ponders the next step for 20-year-old striker who has shown up well in the first team this summer
One of the standout performers of Coventry City’s pre-season so far has been young striker Justin Obikwu.
The 20-year-old has been given his chance to shine by manager Mark Robins who has included him in his first team summer squad, and the quick and athletic front man has certainly caught the eye in the games he’s played so far.
Having got on the scoresheet in the opening 3-0 win over Port Vale, the development striker featured against Spanish side Getafe before winning and scoring a penalty in the 3-1 win at Stevenage where he also set up Fabio Tavares for a goal and went close to getting another for himself, only to be denied by a terrific save from the goalkeeper.
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Asked about his performance at the Lamex Stadium on Tuesday night (July 23), Robins said: “Justin’s work-rate was incredible and was brought down in the area when he won the penalty off the goalkeeper, and got a goal for himself. And then we scored a second from a Bobby Thomas header and then a third was down the right-hand side from a counter attack. Justin got down the right-hand side and had the presence to cut the ball back for Fabio, and the movement he (Fabio) showed was second to none, really, and that gave us a cushion.
“We carried on and had other chances, some really good chances actually, and their goalkeeper has made some really good saves. He pushed a header over from Justin and their goalkeeper had a pretty busy and really good game.”
With Matty Godden having left the club this summer, City are clearly short of bodies up front and arguably need a striker who offers something a bit different to the big lads, Ellis Simms and Haji Wright. So could Obikwu be that player?
Asked how much he thinks he’s improved over the last 12 months, and how close he is to being more involved, the City boss said: “He’s done really well but there’s still clearly a long way to go for him.
“But his level has gone up from last year, quite markedly really. He’s worked hard and his loan spell was successful with Dave Artell up at Grimsby and I am sure there will be takers for him again if we decide to let him out again. But at this moment in time I think he is best served being with us, certainly for the rest of pre-season and then we’ll take it from there.”
