Coventry City manager dodges Doug King’s inquiry but identifies missing element ahead of transfer window.

Mark Robins is determined that Coventry City’s season ends well, but the manager can’t help but consider building on the team’s development and returning next season.

The Sky Blues manager is reflecting on a successful season that saw the club fall short of the play-offs and exit the FA Cup at the penultimate round. That successful cup run has taken a significant toll in terms of injuries and weariness, and it has undoubtedly been a distraction from City’s promotion push in recent weeks, with the club missing out on key opportunities to stay in the race for a top six spot.

They are currently in ninth place with 63 points, with nine games remaining, beginning this weekend with a trip to Blackburn Rovers and followed by home games against Ipswich Town and Queens Park Rangers. City finished fifth last season with 70 points, and Robins certainly wants to beat that total this season, albeit unlikely to catch Norwich presently. However, nine points are possible to get them to 72 points, which the Canaries presently have with two games remaining.

“From that perspective, we can only feel we have missed some opportunities in the last few weeks, but we will reflect and look back on it, and I am confident we can improve moving forward,” said the upbeat manager, speaking in today’s pre-match press conference, where everything was back to normal, back on zoom, and back to fielding questions from only CWR and CoventryLive – in stark contrast to facing a packed press auditorium at Wembley.

“It will be an exciting few games to see how many points we can score in difficult games. But we’re in a great healthy situation right now, and there are still things we want to do this season in terms of beating last season’s totals, though that becomes more difficult when you run out of games and players. But we’ll go up there and offer everything we have and see where it takes us.

“But, in fairness, from the beginning, everyone’s input, including the support, has been just fantastic. “And we’ll be back stronger next season.”

Preparing for a period of introspection, he added: “Everyone is proud of certain aspects of things, but we will all be unhappy in the end. When we look back and have time to ponder, things will alter. But when you’ve been a high achiever for a long time, you know it’s going to be a difficult task to reach that level, and the number of games we’ve been required to play in a short period of time makes it difficult to play at the levels we want.

“We still have three games to play, which is really difficult to do. When we look back at the end of the season, which is just ten days away, we can reflect on what they did and how we could have done better, look at people, and then plan for the following season.”

City’s thin-looking team is down to the bare bones, with Fabio Tavares out until the summer with ankle ligament damage and defenders Joel Latibeaudiere and Luis Binks nursing calf and Achilles injuries, respectively.Meanwhile, Callum O’Hare (fatigue) and Victor Torp (stomach strain) underwent fitness tests before the coach left for Lancashire on Friday afternoon for an overnight stay.

On Wednesday night, Robins stated that City’s lack of depth has ‘come home to roost.’ However, when asked if he has met with owner Doug King to discuss spending, strengthening, and numbers needed in the summer to ensure the club doesn’t fall short again, he chose to discuss the weather instead.

He did, however, identify one area of his team that has been missing since Kyle McFadzean’s left in January – the 37-year-old will face his former club for the first time this weekend. Although his playing time has been inconsistent in recent weeks, the loss of fellow centre-back Scott Wharton to a major knee injury this week may see Fadz return to the starting lineup against his beloved Sky Blues.

The defender is determined to bid farewell to the 4,300 travelling fans, who are likely to greet him warmly when he steps out for the warm-up and again after the final whistle if he stays to say his goodbyes.

When asked if he believes the Sky Blue Army will demonstrate their appreciation, Robins replied, “That’s up to them. But his time here has been well chronicled, and he was absolutely brilliant for us. He is a truly exceptional individual. He went through a really difficult period this season when he lost his mother and then obviously left during the transfer window, and it was very sorry to see him go, and he felt the same way. When someone has been a stalwart and is highly loved by everyone, I have no doubt that the supporters will want to show their appreciation since he will forever be a part of this club’s history and in the hearts of the supporters, and rightfully so. He’s an exceptional human being.”

McFadzean was signed on a short-term contract until the conclusion of the season and is presently pursuing a new contract with Rovers.

“I’d back him to get a new contract, yes, 100 percent,” said his former manager, who knows only too well how hard he trains and looks after himself and is confident he “still has plenty of football left in his legs.”

His leadership, professionalism, and character on and off the field are clearly still valued by the manager, who concluded: “He trained properly every day, as if it were a game. He took things in, listened, and studied; even at 33, he knuckled down and learned while ensuring that everyone else followed suit. He assisted all of the lads who played alongside him and in front of him, which is something we miss and must replace at some point.”

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