Sky Blues boss Steven Pressley has praised Mathieu Manset's patience after signing with the club...
Coventry City manager Steven Pressley has praised Mathieu Manset's patience after he finally sealed a one-year deal, with a further year option, with the Sky Blues.
The French striker, who has played at Reading and Hereford United, has been on trial at the club for the last month in the hope of sealing a deal.
With the club under a transfer embargo, Manset has had to wait longer than expected to be offered a deal by the club having played a part in City's pre-season.
Having improved his fitness and impressed in training, Pressley is delighted Manset was finally able to sign with the club.
The City boss said: "We've had 'Mani' (Mathieu Manset) training with us now for around a month and it has been a slightly frustrating period for him.
"He has been desperately wanting to sign here for a while having seen it delayed and put back on a number of occasions.
"But finally we got there and he is about this place with a huge smile on his face which is great to see as it has been a difficult period for him and he has had to be patient.
"I am delighted he stuck with us and was patient with us as he is an excellant addition to the squad. He brings us great firepower and he is still young so he has huge potential."
Manset is expected to go straight into the squad for the Bristol City game at Sixfields on Sunday having had an intensive pre-season with the Sky Blues.
Despite having had a full month with the club, Pressley believes Manset still has some 'catching-up' to do on an 'extremely fit' group of players.
He added: "I don't think he is quite at the levels of fitness that we would like to see from him. Even though he has had a month with us, he hasn't had a full pre-season like the rest of the squad.
"The one thing I have stressed is the importance of our fitness levels. We need to be in prime fitness if we are going to play the way I want them to.
"Manset has certainly improved his fitness greatly but I think there is a little bit to go as we have an extremely fit group due to a great pre-season.
"I think our fans can be really excited by his addition to the club."