Sky Blues now have fear factor
Former City striker Frank Nouble returns to the Ricoh with Newport County NICKY Eaden believes Coventry City’s impressive start to the season will quickly established a fear factor among their League Two rivals.
The Sky Blues development coach, who is very much part of manager Mark Robins’s backroom staff on a match day, is convinced teams won’t fancy travelling to the Ricoh Arena after back-to-back victories set City’s stall out for the new season.
City have taken maximum points off Notts County and Grimsby Town to take their place at the top of the league table, being the only side with a 100 per cent record from the first two weekends of football.
And Eaden knows that it was crucial to get off to a good start because of the stature of the club in the eyes of the more established fourth-tier clubs who will view the Sky Blues as a scalp.
“I felt we needed a good start in the first team to build a bit of momentum,” said the 44-year-old coach, “because if it had gone the other way we’re a big club to be shot at and teams make it difficult for you.
“But this will build a bit of a fear factor for other teams coming.”
City’s second home game of the 2017/18 league campaign is against Newport County who will be making their first ever visit to the Ricoh this weekend.
The Exiles have made an unbeaten start to their season with two points on the road, starting with a six-goal thriller at Stevenage on the opening day when former Sky Blues’ striker Frank Nouble scored in the 3-3 draw. The former West Ham United youngster then got the all important strike in a 1-1 draw at Crewe on Saturday.
Mike Flynn’s side secured their League Two status with an incredible final day survival act – having been 11 points adrift of safety with 12 games remaining – a sell-out Rodney Parade witnessing one of football’s greatest escapes.
But a return to the ground the club share with the Dragons rugby region and Newport RFC has been delayed because of work to lay a new, hybrid DESSO pitch similar to the one Wasps had laid at the Ricoh a few years ago.
A late start to the work left the club having to plead with the EFL to postpone any home games until the work is completed, which County say will be August 26 – the fourth Saturday of the new season. expected, emphasises the faith you as supporters have in Mark Robins and his team, and your loyalty to your club.”
City did, however, have some issues over the distribution of season tickets, with some supporters being issued paper tickets for the opening day clash with Notts County because their season ticket cards had not arrived in time.
He added: “I would like to apologise on behalf of the club to fans who did not receive their Season Ticket card until the opening day of the season.
“This delay was caused by an issue while printing cards, between the interfaces of Ticketmaster and Fortress Access Control.
“As soon as this issue became clear, it was our priority as a club to let those fans affected know what was happening and ensure they could attend the opening day with as little hassle as possible.
“Now that this has been done, I have arranged a meeting with senior management at Ticketmaster to review what happened and how the overall ticketing experience can be improved for our supporters.”