Kevin Kilbane says the whole squad is eager to impress...
Coventry City captain Kevin Kilbane believes the squad is focused on turning the club’s fortunes around ahead of the Carlisle match.
The Sky Blues suffered a disappointing defeat in midweek at the Greenhous Meadow, losing 4-1 to Shrewsbury Town in what was the side’s fourth straight league defeat.
Since then, Mark Robins has been installed as the new Coventry City manager and he took his first training session with the players yesterday ahead of the weekends match.
Kilbane says everybody in the squad has been given a ‘clean slate’ under the new management and that the whole squad is eager to impress.
The City captain said: “He has made it clear to everybody straight away that we have a clean slate and everyone wants to impress.
“I think we are all aware of the situation we are in and we have to improve results quickly. We want to impress the new manager but we also have to go out and turn around the club’s fortunes.
“That’s the position that we are all in and we have to strive to make sure we are doing our best for the club. I think the new manager will lift the club.
“The club has taken their time over the appointment with them interviewing candidates up and down the country. The decision has been made now and everyone is happy with the appointment.
“He has a really good record and again, it is a fresh start for everybody and we have to take responsibility for the situation we are in and get ourselves out of it.”
Kilbane has started every game so far this season and got his name on the score-sheet with his powerful effort against Birmingham City in the Capital One Cup.
The captain is hoping he can continue his run in the side against Carlisle United and he believes despite the bad start, success and promotion this season isn’t out of reach.
He added: “It is still early days in the season. Of course, we haven’t won yet in the league and we haven’t got off to a good start at all.
“But there have been signs in quite a few of the games that we can score goals and we can create chances. We have to draw on those positives and cut out those negative factors.
“With the new manager coming in, that certainly helps. We want to kick on from here and we know we have to improve as a team together.
“Carlisle will be a difficult test as I have always been an admirer of Greg Abbott’s side. He has assembled a strong squad who will be up there come the end of the season.
“These are the sort of sides we need to be beating if we are going to get serious about our aspirations this season.”