Coventry City transfer news from CoventryLive as Sky Blues reporter Andy Turner delves into the reasons why Mark Robins was uanble to fill the midfield void left by Gustavo Hamer
Coventry City’s injury problems went from bad to worse on Wednesday night when Liam Kelly suffered a torn hamstring against Blackburn Rovers. The Sky Blues are desperately short of central midfield options following the recent injury to key man Ben Sheaf, coupled with the club’s inability to replace Gustavo Hamer in the transfer window.
Skipper Kelly had been filling in admirably for Sheaf but limped off injured in the 26th minute of the 1-0 midweek win at the CBS Arena and looks to be out for several weeks. The 33-year-old suffered a similar injury last season. “He’s torn his hamstring so I am going to pick myself for Saturday, although I won’t be running,” joked City manager Mark Robins, trying to make light of the hugely disappointing situation.
Jamie Allen filled in for Kelly by dropping deeper into a more holding role against Rovers and will be favourite to be deployed alongside Josh Eccles in the middle of the park again on Saturday when the Sky Blues entertain Norwich City at home. There is concern, however, over whether Allen can get through three games in a week given that last Saturday’s match at QPR was his first start of the season following his summer heart scare which forced him to miss the entire pre-season.
“I really didn’t want to have to play him for the full 90 minutes, which turned out to be over 100 minutes tonight,” Robins admitted. It’s challenging because, in essence, he has to go again on Saturday. Although there will be a break after, there isn’t really another choice right now, therefore we will have to play players who are already exhausted.
After the weekend, City will benefit from a nice international break, and it is hoped that Sheaf will be able to return from an adductor strain. However, the manager acknowledges that in order to get through this challenging stretch of ailments, he may have to start considering using players out of position.
“I’m hopeful that there’s going to be some miracle and that I can start getting players back because we need them,” he said. “I’m going to have to start playing strikers in midfield, or defenders in midfield, but let’s see.”
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