Manager still cautious on fit-again duo
MARK Robins insists he will not include Callum O’hare and Liam Kelly in his Coventry City line-up for the first time this season until they are completely ready.
Both players have been sidelined since suffering hamstring tears on the eve of the new season.
But the pair are back in full training and are close to a return, having featured for the Under-21s this week.
High-energy attacking midfielder O’hare played a planned 45 minutes against Burnley on Tuesday before being substituted at half-time.
City captain Kelly, who picked up a recurrence of a torn hamstring that kept him out for long periods of last season, came through another 68 minutes for the club’s development side on Tuesday, getting himself on the scoresheet in a 3-1 loss against Burnley.
Asked at yesterday’s pre-match press conference whether O’hare and Kelly have a chance of travelling to Stoke City today, the manager was far more cautious, saying: “Look, they are getting closer and that’s all I am saying on that.
“They have played some football but they have been out a long time and I have got to make sure they are ready before I do anything with them.”
The Sky Blues will again be without Tyler Walker against Stoke, having suffered a knee ligament tear.
Providing an update, Robins said: “Tyler is not too far away now. He may end up training today.”
Fellow striker Martyn Waghorn, the match-winner against Sheffield United, is a doubt with a sore hamstring while central midfielder Ben Sheaf is definitely missing.
He picked up his fifth booking of the season on Wednesday night and serves a one-match ban today.