Duckens and Jordan apart, City’s problems are STRIKING

MARK Robins’s Coventry City boast the meanest defence in the division but there are major concerns at the sharp end where the Sky Blues have a return of just 17 goals, the second worst haul in the top half of the table.

There’s not a single Sky Blues player in the top 20 leading scorers in League Two. The City boss maintains his team are the best in the division but they have plenty to do to convince the fans after failing to score in five of their last six games in the league.

Adding fire power in January will be a priority if City are to realise their ambitions of promotion. But, in the meantime, the manager has to work with what he’s got at his disposal.

Here we assess the strikers and to see if there are any mitigating factors.

Special mention

Duckens Nazon has been the standout striker since joining on loan from Wolves and quickly rattling in six goals to take him straight to the top of the Sky Blues scoring charts. The 23-year-old hit a flurry of four in five to establish himself as a fan favourite including the winning goals in backto-back displays at Swindon and at home to Crewe. He’s got a bit of a swagger about him and can finish, often hitting unstoppable efforts from the edge or just outside the box.

Jordan Ponticelli, meanwhile, has recently burst onto the scene and is hugely popular with supporters who have been clamouring for the Nuneaton lad to get a game since the back end of last season when he thumped home 27 goals for the Under-18s. He’s got three so far and finally broken into the first team in recent weeks. The teenager is an instinctive goal scorer who has all the raw ingredients and natural talent to establish himself.

Must do better

While no-one can fault the effort of City’s pool of strikers, confidence has weighed heavily on their shoulders, none more so than summer signing Marc McNulty whose movement and work-rate is exceptional. He’s widely touted as the best finisher at the club by manager and team-mates alike but has found goals hard to come by, contributing just four so far, only two of which have been in the league.

Elsewhere, Stuart Beavon is a clever footballer who always runs himself into the ground but is yet to get off the mark, and fallen down the pecking order in recent months, while Max Biamou has taken time to adapt to league football after making the step up from Sutton United. The Frenchman has scored just one goal to date, in the Checkatrade Trophy, and although he adds physicality, has done little to suggest he’s going to be prolific in his first season at this level.

Kwame Thomas has been a huge disappointment. He showed glimpses of quality in a difficult injury-hit first season with the club, but has failed to build on that to make an impact this term.

Best bit

The most encouraging game of the season to date has to be the 3-0 victory at Luton Town. The Hatters were top of the league going into the fixture which, on paper, given City had not scored in their previous four League Two encounters, looked like a tough task. But Marc McNulty scored with a brilliant header to give City an early lead, his first goal in 12 league games, before late strikes from Jordan Shipley and Nazon got the job done. It was the first time Coventry had managed more than two in a game since the opening day 3-0 win over Notts County, and the quality of the opposition instilled renewed optimism.

Worst bit

The four games prior to the trip to Kenilworth Road when City went four long games without a single goal. City have continually struggled to break teams down at the Ricoh, where most turn up and park the proverbial bus, but are still creating chances on a regular basis but failing to take them.

How they compare

In a word, poorly. Nazon is the club’s leading marksman with six, but only five of those have been in the league. Even rock bottom Chesterfield have Kristian Dennis on nine goals which makes him the joint second top scorer in the division behind Wycombe’s Adebayo Akinfenwa and Accrington’s Billy Kee who have ten apiece to top the charts.

Conclusion

Robins continues to have faith in his front men but the fans started pressing the panic button months ago. With around six weeks until the transfer window opens, all thoughts are switching to recruiting some much needed finishing power to the side. There are mitigating circumstances, namely the season-ending injury to Tony Andreu who was hoped to pull the strings in the No.10 role, so that was a blow. But unless City start scoring more freely then it’s going to be a long and hard season.

Kwame Thomas has joined nonleague Solihull Moors on loan.

The 22-year-old has joined, subject to EFL approval, initially until January 6. He joins the National League side following a spell with Sutton United earlier this campaign where he made three appearances.