Coventry City boss Mark Robins has admitted that the enforced break from football has come at a bad time for the club, although he understands how the game isn’t important right now.
The Sky Blues haven’t played a competitive game since they won 1-0 at Ipswich on March 7, with training cancelled six days later as players were ordered to work from home. Due to the financial implications that this situation has brought, Coventry made the decision to furlough their players earlier this month, meaning they couldn’t continue to work with the club.
And, speaking in a Q&A, Robins explained how that has been a challenge and he also revealed how long he thinks the players will need in order to get up to speed to finish the League One season.
“It’s really difficult because everything has stopped. The players have been furloughed, so we can’t do anything. It’s something that you think about all of the time – how the players are doing, what they are up to.
“We’ve put things on for them but you can’t make them do anything, so it’s a case of voluntary stuff and there’s still an uptake for that. That’s all you can do.
“We need a month. It’s been over 5 weeks now since we last did anything together.”
Will Coventry City win promotion this season?
Yes
No
There’s still no definitive date on when the football will resume, although EFL chairman Rick Parry has indicated that players could be set for a return to training in mid-May, with the hope of finishing the season in 56 days, starting in the following month.
Coventry will certainly be hoping that the campaign is played to the end, as they are in a fantastic position to win promotion back to the Championship. The Midlands outfit currently lead the way in the third tier and hold a seven-point advantage over third-place, whilst they importantly have at least one game in hand on the majority of their rivals below.
