MASON’S LEFT IN CHARGE
SKY BLUES STAR WINNING THE FIGHT FOR SPOT IN DEFENCE
COVENTRY City’s left-back berth has been one of the most hotly contested and changing positions in the team this season.
That’s nothing new, of course, and fans will recall the battle Chris Stokes and Ryan Haynes had over previous seasons with neither managing to nail down the shirt as their own.
But when Mark Robins overhauled the position last summer, the experienced Junior Brown looked the favourite to establish himself and bring consistency and stability to the left-back slot.
Fast forward six months, however, and the 29-year-old former Shrewsbury Town star is not even making the matchday squad, having been kept out by current man in possession Brandon Mason, who joined the club from Premier League Watford’s development squad last summer, and fresh-faced Sam McCallum who shot into the first team picture after showing outstanding form in the Under23s.
So far this term Brown has made 17 League One starts and two substitute appearances but not featured in 2019 yet, having last played on Boxing Day and been in the matchday squad just once since as an unused substitute against Blackpool. McCallum is currently back in the development squad following his taste of senior football which has seen the 18-year-old make two league starts and four appearances from the bench. Mason, meanwhile, has made 15 league starts and on a current run of four successive appearances. Asked if he thinks the leftback spot is now his, the 21-yearold said: “I like to think so.
“I come in every day and work hard and all I can do is just that and perform my best on the pitch and try to play every week. It’s down to the gaffer at the end of the day which team he puts out but I can only do my best and hope that I get picked.”
As to whether he thought he’d be understudy to Brown when he signed back in the summer, he said: “No, I’m confident in my ability and know what I can do.
“Obviously I knew that Junior was a top player so I knew the competition
I feel I am finding my feet and finding my form and I feel really confident at the minute.
was going to be stiff but, for me, I just knew I have to work hard and make sure I got the number one spot.”
Asked why he thinks the position has changed so often, he said: “Throughout the season I have been a little bit up and down with injuries and form as a young player and that, but now I feel I am finding my feet and finding my form and I feel really confident at the minute.”
So what about Brown. Is he moping around, disappointed that he’s not figuring?
“No, everyone is positive in the camp,” insisted Mason.
“Junior is a top player. I have had to wait for my time and Junior has been playing well when he’s played. You just have to take your chance really when it comes.”
Mason certainly played his part in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Accrington Stanley when he won a 50/50 tackle on the halfway line, shrugged off the challenge of another man before slipping the ball to Bright Enobakhare to work his magic with a run into the box and a clinical finish.
“I won the ball and drove up from the back and just gave it to Bright and he did the rest,” said the defender, reflecting on the decisive 60th minute move.
“The way we like to play is to build play and we need that creative player to make things happen, and I think he did that.
“Games like that you just have to stick it out and always stay positive. We always know we’re going to create chances in every game.”
Brandon Mason