‘We’re not far away,’ says Sky Blues captain Kyle McFadzean.
Kyle McFadzean got the first of the 14 goals hit by Coventry players this term on the opening weekend at Leicester
Coventry skipper Kyle McFadzean says it is the “little things” struggling City must improve on to kickstart their season after three straight losses.
Despite the summer exit of star players Viktor Gyokeres and Gus Hamer, last season’s Championship play-off finalists still began the 2023-24 campaign in optimistic mood.
But Mark Robins’ side have won just three times in 14 league games.
“We just need to stick together and get through this,” McFadzean told BBC CWR.
“It’s little things we need to improve on. I think we’re playing a lot better and creating a lot of chances. So we should be disappointed.
“But we also need to defend better as a team. Keep more clean sheets, you win more games.”
Sky Blues league goals 2023-2024
While the Sky Blues have kept only three clean sheets out of 14, the bigger problem is goals – just two now in five games and none at all in the last three, all of which they have lost, at Bristol City, Rotherham United and then at home to West Bromwich Albion on Monday.
And of the 17 they have netted, three have been own goals, City’s second top scorer, behind five-goal Matt Godden.
“Rotherham was unacceptable,” admitted McFadzean. “We were rubbish second half.
“But really we just need to take our chances when we’re on top and we’ve just given too many sloppy goals away.”
How much are they missing Gyokeres?
Comparisons have been made with a year ago, when Coventry lifted themselves off the bottom of the division to reach the Championship play-off final, inspired by the goals of Gyokeres – and also the inspirational late season form of Hamer.
But, when the dream return to the top flight did not happen, both moved on for big fees – Gyokeres to Sporting Lisbon and, after the new season had started, Hamer to Sheffield United.
Gyokeres has maintained his fine scoring form with 10 goals in 14 games this season for club and country.
That might be good news long term for the Sky Blues with Coventry owner Doug King having confirmed at last week’s BBC CWR Fans Forum that there is a sell-on clause for the Swedish striker.
This time last season, the Sky Blues had been playing under a staggered start which was only just beginning to unwind following problems with the CBS Arena pitch. And, of his campaign haul of 24 goals, Gyokeres had only netted six.
City face a visit to bogey ground, Preston’s Deepdale on Saturday, and despite being 20th in the table, are only eight points off a play-off place in the always tightly congested Championship.
Godden, who missed three months of last season when he scored eight, has got six in all competitions this time round after signing his new deal – but only one of those was in a winning team.
And, although ex-Everton and Sunderland targetman Ellis Simms and £7.7m club record signing Haji Wright, City’s two seven-figure replacements for Gyokeres, have both only scored twice each, all four were in winning causes.
Simms scored twice in the 3-1 win at QPR and Wright scored in both Coventry’s other two victories this season – the 3-0 August win over Middlesbrough and the 1-0 home triumph over Blackburn, at the start of October just when Coventry’s season looked like it was starting to turn the right way.
Wright did miss two chances on Monday, one of them a key one, at only 1-0 down, with only the keeper to beat. But the fans showed their continuing support for the USA international by immediately chanting his name – and McFadzean says it is just a question of finding some confidence.
“Haji would score that all day long in training,” he said. “All he needs is confidence. Once he gets his confidence up, he’ll be flying.
“We all just need to get a bit better. And we will. We’ll come through th
