Tony Mowbray and defender Baily Cargill spoke to the press to preview the weekend’s League One clash with Bury as the Sky Blues fight to stay in promotion contention…
The Sky Blues manager has revealed he is aware of the threat posed by ex-Coventry striker, Leon Clarke but is confident in his new defensive partnerships.
Cargill, who also spoke to the press yesterday, gave a particularly strong defensive performance in the Sky Blues’ previous league outing and Mowbray has been pleased with the 20-year olds progress since joining on deadline day.
“Defence is one area of the pitch that hasn’t remained consistent throughout the season – largely through injury. The youthfulness in our front line needs a defensive platform to build from.
“We’ve bought some young defenders in that will grow in to the way we play and when that happens we should be able to play the season out with some consistency,” Mowbray commented.
The Sky Blues boss also spoke of the need to protect his younger players, with a tough schedule of upcoming away games (Peterborough, Gillingham and Wigan to name a few).
“We will try and find a way to give the younger lads some respite over the next few weeks and try to give them a breather so they can push on in the run in to the end of the season,” Mowbray commented.
The Sky Blues have the benefit of a free fixture next weekend, with the Shrewsbury game rearranged and Mowbray has welcomed the rest period as a way to rejuvenate the team after a dip in form.
He is confident that the current squad can regain the spark that recorded an unbeaten home record in the first half of this season:
“Confidence dips a bit when you don’t win football matches, but we have to try and rebuild that on the training ground. We need to find a way to win a match and off we go again.
“Hopefully a point against Port Vale will give us the impetus to push on and try to find that victory against Bury", Mowbray added.
Saturday’s Shakers clash also doubles as the annual Legends Day celebration at the Ricoh Arena, as we welcome some iconic faces from Sky Blues teams of old and the City boss hopes that the presence of ex-players will encourage his current City squad to secure all three points:
“All young footballers should want to show fellow players how talented they are, hopefully they show the lads that have represented this club so proudly over the past that the current crop can do a decent job."