Sky Blues forward Fabio Tavares shared his delight on grabbing his first goal for the Sky Blues and looked ahead to what’s in store for the remainder of the season.
Having made his City debut last weekend, Fabio Tavares was introduced again late on as the Sky Blues chased an equaliser.
The 21-year-old striker instantly announced himself to the league, curling in a beautiful effort, beating the reach of Daniel Iverson as City scored another goal at the death.
Tavares reflected on the moment and what he’ll be hoping will be one of many goals for the Sky Blues.
“I’m just happy, it’s not really settled in yet.” Tavares said.
“Shipperz was going to come on but then the penalty incident happened and Fadz said get ready, you’re definitely coming on here and the gaffer gives me the nod to get stripped to go.
"When I got on the pitch I was just thinking what can I do in a short space of time to make a name for myself, that’s how I feel when I get on the pitch, do something to make a name for yourself.
“As soon as it fell down for me I was thinking the levels are high, they’re going to close me down especially in the later stages of the game, but they didn’t, they gave me space and then there’s only one thing on my mind which was to shoot and it went in.
“I’ve hit it and I’ve seen it go over people’s heads I didn’t even see it go in , I’ve turned around and gone to celebrate straight away.”
Arriving from Rochdale in February 2021, the young striker has been unstoppable for City’s Under-23s side and spoke on how academy coach Luke Tisdale, as well as Mark Robins, have helped his development.
“[Luke’s] probably been one of the biggest influences to be fair, since day one when I came in he’s just filled me with confidence.
"When I came in it was a bit of a hard time in my career and he reinvented me as a player and I repaid him back there with the goal hopefully, but he’s been great and is one of the most important people I’ve had in my career so far.
“I think personally [Robins] he's been straight forward with me, he’s not rushed me or put any pressure on me so I feel like I’ve played my best football because I’ve been able to do what I can do.
"Since I’ve come in they’ve just told me to play my game and just tweaked it the Coventry City way, but just to be full of confidence and they’ve backed me to be a good player.
“I see some comments of people asking me to play, but I feel like the Gaffer’s made the right decision on giving me a year to settle in and the more I’m training with the first team the better I’ll play on the pitch.
“The club have added to my game, getting me more comfortable in different situations that I didn't face as much at Rochdale, so it’s been really good.”
After tallying his first goal for the club, Tavares revealed his ambitions for the remainder of the season and what the fans can expect in the coming months.
“I think that’s something since young that I’ve had a pride for doing is scoring goals, this year I’ve been doing really well in the Under-23s and I want to continue that in the 23’s and the first team.
“It’s a different experience, you always want to be in and around it but it’s still good to be playing weekly with the 23’s, so if I’m missing out I can still make up for it and scoring goals gives me more confidence, so when I do come up I’m feeling better.
“My plan originally was to break into the first, team make my debut, get some minutes, but now it’s what can I do from here, I don’t want to be dwelling on this moment, I want to kick on get some more minutes and score some goals as well.”