At the start of the 2018/19 season, Sky Blues striker, Max Biamou suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury, which would expect to rule him out for the remainder of the campaign.
The striker went up for a challenge within the opening minutes of the Sky Blues trip to Blackpool at Bloomfield Road and upon his landing sustained the injury.
Having enjoyed such a turn in fortunes the previous season, Max had enjoyed a successful 2018 up to the injury.
The 28 year-old was pivotal in the Sky Blues securing promotion to League Two last season, scoring eight goals in 2018, including two in the play-off semi-final against Notts County at Meadow Lane.
Upon the impact of the injury Max admitted he knew straight away he had tore his ACL, having suffered the same injury a few years before.
“I did my right knee four years ago and I thought it was the same, but I wanted to think about something else.” Max said.
“I knew it would be a bad injury.
“When I was talking with the physio, they said it could be this, but I felt the same thing as when I did my knee, so I realised it would be long recovery for me.
“I was so sad because the goal in my life it to play minimum in League One, so I reached my goal, but it was sad as I only got to play a couple of games and I knew it would be a long recovery.
“I remember when I first did my ACL, I said if I do this again then I will stop playing football, but I’m not thinking about this though, I just want to come back stronger and better.
“I’m alright to be honest, my knee is going well, and I’m doing the training with the physio and I’m very happy about this, and I’m just looking forward to the rest of the season.”
In a cruel turn of events, Max became the latest City player to suffer a similar injury, with midfielder Tony Andreu and winger Jodi Jones going through the pain.
The striker has received a whole host of support since the injury and the operation that goes with it, as well as the long road to recovery.
Day to day, Biamou works alongside the Medical department at Coventry City, who he gives credit to for the way they have helped him so far.
He said: “They always ask how my knee is and then how I am mentally.
“If you are not good mentally then you won’t have a good recovery and sometimes I’m mentally tired and I need to work on this.
“You see physically improvements with the knee, but after doing sessions on the bike, in the pool and boxing you have to be strong in the head.”
And, it’s not just the staff who have helped Max along with his recovery to date, the supporters have been fantastic.
Biamou admitted he stayed off social media for the following weeks after sustaining the injury to get away from football.
However, since his return to Twitter and Instagram Max has been inundated with messages of support and he is grateful for everyone.
“When you have this type of injury and you know you are going to be out for a long time, you want to stay away.
“You are happy to receive messages, but you want to have some time at home not thinking about football.
“I received a lot of messages and I try to reply to all of them, but it is difficult as I receive a lot.
“To me they are helping in my recovery and I appreciate them a lot, so if I can help them then I will, as without them then we can’t win games, so we need them to stay with us to win games.”
Now as Max continues his long road to recovery, he reflected on some of the memories he had made during the 2017/18 season.
The campaign was the striker’s first in the Football League and took some time to adjust to they physical demands of the division.
However, come the turn of the year and Biamou was a key player in Mark Robins’ side as they secured promotion back to League One in the play-off final.
Max scored a brace at Meadow Lane to help send City on their way in the semi-final second leg and looking back at Wembley the striker told how he was emotional.
“At the end of Wembley, I cried because last season was a hard season for the team, the staff and for me.” He said.
“At the beginning of the season I was only really getting five to ten minutes of game time.
“As I came from the lower league, I knew I had to work harder than the other players, during off days I was at the training ground doing some sessions alone.
“I knew it was going to be hard for me, but the goal was to get promoted and we did that and I enjoyed it.
“It was the best season of my life because you can see the difference from the start to the end.
“I changed my game mentally and physically, but it was a very good season for me and the team.
“This is why we need the fans if we want to enjoy the times like that this season. We have a good team and we can do it, but without the fans nothing is possible.”