MD: No pressure to sell Macca

Coventry City managing director Paul Fletcher has said that there was no instruction from the club’s bankers to agree to the £4m sale of Gary McSheffrey to Birmingham City.

The Sky Blues’ leading goalscorer last season has finally made a move to St Andrew’s after four failed bids, sparking suggestions that City were under pressure to reduce their £25m debts.

‘There’s no way the bank ordered us to do anything,’ said Fletcher.

‘It’s no secret that the club has an overdraft, like 99 per cent of clubs up and down the country, but we operate within that.

‘We’re not the type of football club that will go broke. We are slowly starting to climb the ladder and that won’t be achieved by always doing exactly what the bank wants us to do.

‘Whatever we did we knew we wouldn’t make everybody happy – we understand that.

‘But the important thing is that we stay focused on our plan to get Premiership football within three years. We need to take calculated decisions, brave decisions, and that’s what we’ll continue to do.’