ACADEMY OF EXCELLENCE
SKY BLUES’ UNDER-23S COACH IS EAGER TO WORK WITH THE LATEST CROP OF TALENTED GRADUATES
COVENTRY City’s Under-23s head coach Luke Tisdale has hailed the Sky Blues’ academy for producing “footballers again and again” as the latest crop of talent aims to make its mark.
During the summer, several new faces have joined Under-23s group, with academy graduates Cian Tyler, Jonny Ngandu, Blaine Rowe and Dan Lafferty four out of the six second-year scholars in their group to sign professional deals.
City also moved for centre-back Jay Mcgrath who has signed from Mickleover
and is tipped for a bright future.
Coventry have produced some stellar talent who have gone on to make their first-team bow such as Jordan Shipley – and boss Mark Robins hasn’t been afraid to give them their chance to shine.
And Tisdale is eager to see how the latest crop fare as the club looks to maintain its impressive record in developing stars.
“Cian is the second-year goalkeeper for the Under-18s last year and he is one of four 18s which we’ve added into the 23s this year out of a possible of six,” Tisdale said.
“Blaine Rowe, Jonny Ngandu and Dan Lafferty are the other three and massive credit has to go to the academy once again for the work they do to produce footballers for the club again and again.
“Dan will come in as a third-year scholar and he is one who really struggled with injury during his apprenticeship and luckily we’ve been able to bring him into the group and give him some time to fit in,” Tisdale added. “Also, Jay Mcgrath has come in from Mickleover and he’s played a lot of men’s football so he will bring a competitive edge to the group and he looks like he could be a good centre-back.” And City’s rising stars will have gained invaluable experience from working with the first-team, according to Tisdale. In the past, only a select few from the youth team have linked up with their senior counterparts for pre-season training. But this year, all those
I think we’re all buzzing again, and the trip to Scotland was a good opportunity to continue our progression. Luke Tisdale
who were fit travelled to Scotland to join in with Mark Robins’ group.
“I think everyone felt the same during lockdown, it drained everyone a little bit in terms of no football,” Tisdale told the club website.
“I think we’re all buzzing again, and the trip to Scotland was a good opportunity to continue our progression.
“A couple of the lads went out to Spain last year – Will Bapaga, Jonny Ngandu and Sam Mccallum – but this time we’ve brought all the boys.
“I think it’s only Aaron Evans-harriott from our group who hasn’t travelled because he has a little injury.
“For them to come away on this trip and be around the first-team, that is an unbelievable experience for them.”
It has not yet been confirmed when the Sky Blues youngsters can return to action, with the Under-23s Professional Development season having been suspended due to the coronavirus crisis.
“We’ve been back in for a few weeks now,” said Tisdale. “The sports science and medical staff did a great job of keeping everyone ticking over and tracking their runs during lockdown, so we’ve just had a couple of weeks on the balls, getting everyone used to it again.
“I think they’ve all looked good, to be fair. We’re still waiting on a confirmed date for when we can resume.
“We’ve got one date in mind which we are working towards.”