TIPPED FOR THE TOP!
Race for City’s player of the season gets..
DATA EXPERTS ARE PREDICTING MARK ROBINS’ SKY BLUES WILL WIN LEAGUE ONE AT A CANTER
COVENTRY City’s season has been brought to an abrupt halt thanks to the outbreak of coronavirus.
With just ten games to go for Mark Robins’ side, the extended break comes on the back of taking an outstanding 22 points from 24 available in their previous eight games.
Prior to the magnificent run that had taken them to the top of the league they’d not lost a single match in the division in 2020 to push them into pole position for promotion.
The Sky Blues currently sit in top spot with a five-point cushion on second-placed Rotherham United and a seven-point advantage over the chasing play-off pack, with a game in hand.
With no football for the time being it offers us an opportunity to just take a breath and reflect on a brilliant season so far.
So who have been City’s top performers?
Who are the main contenders to win Coventry’s Player of the Year?
Here we assess some of the main candidates in a season where you could make a case for numerous players from one to 11.
The back three have emerged as part of the tightest defence in the division while the first half of the season saw the likes of Jordan Shipley and Zain Westbrooke, who bagged 11 goals between them, more than play their part in City’s success.
But we’ve narrowed it down to five at this stage of the campaign.
Marko Marosi
The 26-year-old goalkeeper joined the Sky Blues on a free transfer from Doncaster Rovers last summer, with whom he’d helped get to the League One play-offs last season.
Drafted in to replace Lee Burge, Marosi was targeted primarily for being a ball-playing goalkeeper who can play it out comfortably from the back to fit in line with City’s preferred style of play.
There were odd occasions where the tactic saw City come unstuck earlier in the campaign but, by and large, it’s worked well and the team’s No.1 has earned great credit for his part in moving the ball out quickly to help get the side on the attack.
But where Marosi has also caught the eye is with a string of crucial saves that have either kept the Sky Blues in games or saved them vital points, none more so than in the recent 1-0 St Andrew’s victory over Portsmouth.
Pompey travelled to Birmingham on the back of an all-time record nine-game winning run and the two sides looked to be heading for a point a piece until Matty Godden popped up with a brilliant 84th minute goal to give City the lead.
Kenny Jackett’s men then piled on the pressure with Marosi coming to the rescue with a fine save to deny Cameron Mcgeehan an equaliser in the 90th minute ahead of three nervous minutes for stoppages.
Fankaty Dabo
The marauding wing-back had a difficult start to his Sky Blues career but has just got better and better as the campaign has gone on, becoming one of the standout candidates for this year’s honour. A red card in the 3-3 thriller at Fratton Park in only his fourth league appearance for Coventry was followed by two own goals in another remarkable game that also ended 3-3 the following week at Oxford.
But since then the former Chelsea development player simply hasn’t looked back and has established himself as a key part of Mark Robins’ attack with his exciting runs down the right, from where he’s provided numerous assists.
He’s also shown he can defend well and really is looking like he’s in the form of his life and just missing a goal at the right end to put the icing on the cake of a superb debut season with the Sky Blues.
Liam Walsh
What can we say about the hugely talented box-to-box midfielder. He’s got the lot! It took him just three games
to announce his arrival on loan from Bristol City with a superb 90th minute winner in the 2-1 victory over AFC Wimbledon in mid-september.
Initially it looked like Walsh would be an ‘either or’ option with Liam Kelly but Robins was quick to recognise their combined talents and, rather astutely, found a way of playing both.
He’s scored three more goals since, including a sensational goal of the season contender to secure a 2-1 St Andrew’s win over Rochdale last November when he set off on a mazy run from the halfway line, waltzing past three Dale players before picking his spot to earn the nickname, “Messi,” among his team-mates.
Callum O’hare
The Aston Villa loan livewire quickly endeared himself to the Sky Blue Army when he stepped off the bench to score late goals, the first that ensured City took a point in the 3-3 at Oxford, and the second earning three points in a 3-2 win over Blackpool.
Although he was type-cast as a bit of an impact player from the bench in his first few months, the second half of the season has seen the 21-year-old establish himself as a regular starter and key man in Robins’ exciting and fluid attack. Hugely skilful on the ball, O’hare’s direct running and tricky footwork have caused defences all manner of problems.
He’s scored four goals in all to date and provided several assists, becoming a firm favourite – a fact that was reinforced when he showed his bravery in insisting on continuing to play on after needing ten stitches in a head wound. Matty Godden
The summer signing from Peterborough United joined the club with huge expectations on his shoulders after bagging 18 for the Posh the season before.
Although he got off to a decent start with four goals in his first eight appearances in all competitions, the 28-yearold hit a bit of a dry patch before being ruled out for almost two months with injury.
Robins’ first choice striker, however, returned with a bang with back-to-back hat-tricks away at Wycombe and Tranmere and, more recently, has been in outstanding form with a flurry of five goals in his last six League One games, taking his season’s tally to 15 with ten games to go.