Jodi Jones nets twice and tees up striker George Thomas to mark an eye-catching performance for the young City debutant...
Coventry City’s U21s Development Coach, Lee Glover was finally rewarded with three points after fielding a strong, but relatively young side against Bristol City at Ashton Gate.
New signing Jodi Jones, who joined the Sky Blues last week from League Two side Dagenham & Redbridge, announced his arrival to the West Midlands in emphatic style as he stole the show in Bristol. It was the 18-year old who emerged as the star performer on his City debut, with two goals and an assist to his name.
George Thomas and Bassala Sambou completed the scoring in a 4-0 win for the Under-21s, as Glover’s side gave the complete performance in front of on-looking City boss Tony Mowbray.
Glover said: “I’m happy for the lads, because we’ve travelled around the country and sometimes we’ve fallen short, we have been beaten heavily at times - lack of experience and it’s been a learning curve. But tonight the hard work we have put in and with the addition of a couple of players, it has looked great.
“We have managed to get a bit of shape to the team, since working together. We’ve nailed down our ethos with the ball and patterns of play, similar to the first team - we want to follow their lead. Hopefully this is a stepping stone for the lads to progress and make it to the first team.
“This is an opportunity to showcase what you can do with the gaffer watching. Push yourself in to his plans for this season and next season - the opportunity was there and I think 8/9 of them took it.”
Sky Blues manager Mowbray will be missing James Maddison and Adam Armstrong as they spend the week on international duty, but will be encouraged by the positive performances of Ruben Lameiras and Jodi Jones who could be in contention to fill the void against Peterborough on Friday evening.
Another bright performer was young centre-half, Cian Harries who will be looking to catch the eye of the manager after delivering a clean sheet.
Glover added: “I said to [Cian] at half-time, two or three headers you’ve won out there - I knew he was at it. We know he can play, but he needs to develop that other side of his game where he is consistently winning headers and adding to his defensive qualities.
“In the team meeting, I had to say people were going to be left out. We’ve got numbers now.”
Talking about Jodi Jones debut performance, Glover said: “The first one he has cut in and it’s a lovely side foot finish. I quite enjoyed the second one, his personal goal. The way he moved with the ball was excellent and he had the finish to match.
“There is a lot of promise he is showing there for the club and he’s also created one for George to tap in. It was his first game, we’ll work alongside him to develop him and hopefully he can get near the first team.”