Thomas doubts a headache for City manager
Liverpool v Newcastle Leicester v Man City Man Utd v Huddersfield
DERBY County loan star Luke Thomas will definitely miss Coventry City’s next game and could also be a doubt for the New Year’s Day trip to Wycombe Wanderers – his last scheduled game of his half-season spell.
The 19-year-old suffered a nasty cut to his head and concussion in a stoppage time clash of heads in the Sky Blues’ 2-1 Boxing Day victory over Charlton Athletic.
Thomas has been a key part of Mark Robins’ attack since joining the Ricoh Arena from Championship Rams in midAugust, the teenager starting every game and getting City fans on the edge of their seats with some dazzling performances. And the manager is desperately hoping Tuesday’s display, in which he popped up with the assist for Tom Bayliss’s 89thminute winner, is not his last for the club.
“He won’t play Saturday,” confirmed Robins, of the player who was attended to on the pitch by medical staff for several minutes before being stretchered off. “There’s no chance but beyond that we don’t know how bad it is. He was in and out of consciousness and he’s got a big cut or gash down the back of his head and hopefully he’s okay.
“He’ll obviously get checked out by the medical people.”
Robins remains hopeful that City can extend Thomas’s loan until the end of the season. The two clubs have been in regular contact but Coventry are still waiting for a decision from County boss Frank Lampard, who is understood to have been pleased with his progress with the Sky Blues.
But the former Chelsea and England star wants to assess his own squad in January before committing the winger to an extension.
Asked about his future, Robins said: “Obviously we will look at whether we can extend it or not, because we don’t know yet whether he’s going to be here or not.
“I hope so but first and foremost I hope that he’s not feeling too bad.
“His preference is to stay here and continue playing games but obviously we just hope he’s not too badly injured and doesn’t take him too long to get back.”
As for his contribution to date, Robins can’t speak highly enough of the player who, he says, is getting close to becoming the finished article.
“He’s been brilliant and he can be anything he wants,” Robins said.
“He can be frustrating as well. But at times he does so well and creates things for himself and it’s that final little bit where he has got to get his head up.
“He’s almost there and you can see him getting closer.
“And his work rate is phenomenal, so hopefully we can do something to the end of the season with him.”
His absence against Southend United this coming weekend could open the door for fellow forward Reise Allassani who has been on the bench in the last three games. YOU can play it at www.thepools.com
Players, aged 18 and over, can win big cash prizes by predicting the scores of five football matches.
If you correctly predict the results of five matches in a round then you could win £25,000. However, if you are not so lucky then there is still a possibility to win £2,000 for predicting four games. If more than one person bags the prize then it is shared.
His preference is to stay here and continue playing games but obviously we just hope he’s not too badly injured.