Robins explains why Godden was stood down
MARK Robins has explained his decision to drop Matty Godden from Coventry City’s starting lineup for only the second time so far this season.
The Sky Blues striker had started and partnered Viktor Gyokeres in every Championship match this term before Saturday’s CBS Arena clash with Burnley – aside from the game at Norwich City when both were on the bench.
Replaced by Tyler Walker, City struggled to impose their attacking game on the Clarets until Godden was one of four substitutes who went on at the hour mark and served to pep things up amid a formation switch to 4-3-3.
Asked if Godden being rested was a case of managing his fitness – the player having suffered a number of injuries in recent seasons – Robins said: “Yes, yes, absolutely, the history and what I am seeing. So obviously what Burnley have in their team and at their disposal.
“Obviously you try to do something a little bit different and I think it’s been difficult for Tyler because he’s played two games this season, one against Norwich and one against Burnley, they are tough games, but that’s just how it’s fallen.
“And then you look at the changes that we made and it did make a difference and gave us a little bit of a lift, but that was the circumstances of the game.”
He added: “When you look at the changes they made they have Premier League quality everywhere and pace everywhere. But when we made our changes the crowd got up again and we went up into a different gear and on the front foot a lot more. We got the ball higher up and in the box a bit more, but that was based on the fact that we were tiring in certain areas.
“And the changes that were made tried to reflect that and tried to get us a foothold in the game, which we did. We moved the ball a bit better but it was just that little bit of final quality that you need and we just didn’t have that. The goal that they scored, for that to be the difference between the two teams today is disappointing.”