Coventry City injury news from CoventryLive on Ben Sheaf, Liam Kelly, Kasey Palmer and Callum O’Hare as the Sky Blues head to the South West to take on Nigel Pearson’s Bristol City.
Coventry City have suffered an injury “setback” with the news that influential midfielder Ben Sheaf broke down in training earlier this week as he continues to push for a return to action. It was hoped that the 25-year-old, who has sat out the last six matches with an adductor strain, might be available to travel with the Sky Blues squad to Bristol City this weekend.
Mark Robins is desperately short in midfield, a situation compounded by skipper Liam Kelly suffering a hamstring tear while filling in for Sheaf, resulting in Jamie Allen having to drop into a deeper role to cover the holding position. Centre-half Joel Latibeaudiere, meanwhile, has emerged as an emergency option after being handed a late cameo in the position against Norwich City last time out.
The Jamaican is no stranger to the role which he plays for his country, with whom he has just returned from playing two games over the international break – the 22-year-old reporting back unscathed.
Asked about Sheaf, Robins told CoventryLive: “Ben’s had a bit of a setback early on in the week. It was something different but, again, he’s getting closer again. He’s been out for five weeks now and just had a little bit of a setback but I am hopeful that he’s not too far away, if I am totally honest.”
As for Kelly, he revealed: “He’s making small strides forward. He’s symptom free now so hopefully he can start to do some treadmill work next week but he’s still a little bit away.”
Asked about Kasey Palmer, who has been out since suffering an adductor strain against Cardiff City last month, he said: “He’s still got some damage but I am hopeful that once that gets looked at and sorted out today (Fri, Oct 20) that they can maybe do something and that will hopefully accelerate the healing process. But he’s still going to be a while.”
And finally, providing the latest on Callum O’Hare’s recovery from his ACL injury, Robins revealed the player featured in an in-house match this week.
“We had a session that wasn’t a full 11 v 11 because we didn’t have the numbers but we had a game of sorts and Callum trained. He’s been training all the time and slowly and surely he’s getting closer to where he needs to be.
“Nothing’s changed too dramatically but he’s getting closer and closer all the time. I think we are going to have to use the first team games and the Under-21 games where we can, where it’s sensible to do that. He still needs to bridge the gap, really, but he’s probably ahead of where he should be. The fact that he’s worked really hard means he is where he is.
“I don’t want to put dates on it because that just puts him under unnecessary pressure. He’ll be back when he’s back.”
