Ben Sheaf’s news that he will be sidelined for at least six weeks has been a “huge blow” to Coventry City, according to Mark Robins. The 25-year-old experienced an adductor strain during practice last week, and his initial prediction was for him to miss a few weeks of action.
However, further research suggests that the important Sky Blues player won’t be available until early November. The City Manager added, “Ben is going to be out for at least six weeks, which is a major blow because that was the one area we didn’t really fortify in the summer.
Robins noted that his team is having trouble adjusting to the loss of Gustavo Hamer, who was traded to Sheffield United last month, as well as Sheaf’s injury after Tuesday night’s 3-2 loss at Cardiff City. “We lost 70% of our passing success rate when Gus left, but his passing was always piercing and always got past defenses, and that was what we were lacking for long stretches of the game. And how we can disassemble teams is the challenge facing us going forward.
“I simply need to make sure we have enough in there, or we might have to do things differently for the time being. But honestly, we need to be bolder than that because we have strong players in there who typically do the job. But for the first two thirds, we didn’t give Cardiff any problems at all, for whatever reason.
After the wing-back was compelled to leave the field early in the second half with a thigh injury, Robins also expressed worry over Milan van Ewijk.
He said, “He felt his thigh, but I don’t know if it’s a strain or a tear or not.” “At the conclusion of the first half, he sensed it, but he wanted to continue. Although there was no loss of power, indicating that it is not a major issue, if you experience something similar…
But there’s still more. Players need to understand their bodies because if they keep playing, the issue could worsen. We can’t afford to sustain too many injuries, so I can understand if they want to stay on the field. However, they must also exercise common sense.
