Sky Blues can take confidence from going toe-to-toe with title chasers...
That said, Burge pulled off a brilliant reaction save to deny Cov Kid James Collins minutes before he finally equalised and Clarke-Harris and Haynes both had otherwise excellent games.
JCH put in a beast of performance up front, putting himself about and using his physicality to good effect in a bruising encounter with Luton’s centre-backs who will have known they’d been in a game at the final whistle.
Haynes , too, had a terrific game, providing an excellent outlet on the left as he got forward time and time again to help get City on the front foot and sent in some decent early deliveries. He also defended well in the main, his late lapse in concentration aside, and has clearly worked hard on the side of his game which has always held him back.
Robins confirmed after the game that Jordan Willis suffered a “bad” ankle injury in training on Monday – the full extent of which we won’t know until the swelling has gone down enough for him to have a scan.
It doesn’t sound great and the best case scenario appears to be that it’s likely he’ll be out for a couple of weeks. Worst case, of course, we won’t see him again this season.
Either way, the fact that Hyam continues to impress in a City shirt is a huge relief and means the team can maintain confidence at the back in their last ten games rather than feeling weakened in any way.
Hyam, after all, was in the side ahead of Willis on merit on Saturday, when he helped keep a clean sheet, and would more than likely have been again on Tuesday night against Luton had the former skipper been fit. But in terms of back-up, in the short term at least, with Tom Davies still sidelined with a broken collar bone and rookie centre-back Jordon Thompson also injured, City are light on defensive cover. Peter Vincenti has not exactly been
Vincenti’s inclusion meant something had to give in midfield with Robins having to choose between Liam Kelly and Tom Bayliss to partner Michael Doyle in the middle. This was the first time when both have been fit and available that he’s picked the teenager over the more experienced head. Previously he’s pushed Bayliss out wide and out of his natural position to
Robins says City now have a ten-game season ahead of them, starting at struggling Crewe on Saturday. They can travel to Gresty Road safe in the knowledge that they’ve re-set the standard, certainly from an attacking point of view, against Luton with a performance that was in stark contrast to the dismal showing against Barnet a few days earlier when they managed to snatch victory largely against the run of play.
If the Sky Blues can finally find a bit of consistency to their season, knowing they’ve got genuine attacking options and game changers with the likes of Kyel Reid and Carl Baker from the bench, they’ll surely achieve their play-off ambitions. Baker was forced to sit out again on Tuesday night, his international clearance having still not come through, but he should finally be available for the weekend to join in the final push.