Mark Robins and the Coventry City loan man are expected to have a “very interesting” talk, although…

Coventry City loan news from CoventryLive as Sky Blues boss provides a progress report on midfieder Ryan Howley’s season-long spell at Dundee

Mark Robins says he’s set to have a “really interesting” chat with Coventry City prospect Ryan Howley when he returns from a season-long loan spell that hasn’t gone according to plan.

The Nuneaton-born midfielder joined Dundee in August after being targeted by the Scottish club, with former Sky Blues boss Gordon Strachan – who is Dundee’s technical director – having a hand in the move. Robins said at the time that the Academy graduate “needed to go and play because he’s been training and playing with us for three years or so,” explaining that there were players ahead of him and that he couldn’t promise him game time.

The manager said Strachan had seen Howley but, ultimately, Dundee boss Tony Docherty was “really keen on him,” having seen him a number of times, and was therefore “pushing to get it done.”

So far the 20-year-old – who signed a two year contract extension with the Sky Blues last June running to the summer of 2025 – has made two Scottish Premiership starts and eight appearances from the bench, while starting one other game in the FA Cup. He was handed a baptism of fire for his first start in front of almost 60,000 at Celtic’s Parkhead last September, where Dundee lost 3-0.

Asked how the lad was getting on, Robins said: “It’s been a bit stuttery for Ryan who has been mostly out, rather than in and out, so that’s been a disappointment. That loan really hasn’t gone the way we hoped it would do, especially the way they came in for him in the summer. They were adamant that he was the one they wanted and wanted to utilise him in the squad, but then Ryan has got to transfer that into the level of performance that he has to hit.”

He added: “It’s going to be a really interesting conversation with him at the end of the season. I spoke to him mid-season and he needs to knuckle down and just get as much out of the experience as he possibly can do.”