Coventry City looking for midfield muscle

MIDFIELD battlers Michael Doyle and Stephen Hughes look set to be recalled to Coventry City's starting line-up as manager Chris Coleman looks for leaders to put the fight and desire back in the team.

The Sky Blues boss admits that back-to-back away defeats has rammed home the fact that the club are in a relegation scr*p and he wants players with the right battling qualities to come to the fore.

I never saw fight and desire in the second half on Sa ay and that was disappointing because we have got some good guys here, said Coleman, who is preparing his side to face a rejuvenated QPR at the Ricoh Arena tomorrow night.

People say I have come down to the Championship but I played a lot of games in the Championship and before I was 21 I played the best part of 200 games in the fourth and third division.

So I know what it is like outside the top league because I have got a lot of experience in it.

The players are normally naturally gifted with fight and desire and once you get to the highest level that's not enough and you need more than that to survive in the Premier League.

But in this league, that carries you a long way and we mustn't lose that, and if we get that, everything else will fall into place.

If we go out with the mentality that we are not going to get beat today, play as a team and play as a team who are fighting in a relegation battle, everything else will come into play after that.

My first game went great when we beat Leicester City and all the hoo-ha of us arriving and all of a sudden we thought we were going to be OK.

But now we have been brought back down to earth with a big b*mp in the last two games and performances.

We have got a lot to improve on and we have got 12 games to do that.

And with Doyle available after completing his three-match ban and Hughes having recovered from concussion, the midfield pairing look favourite for an immediate return.

A player like Michael Doyle is going to be important to any team in a situation we find ourselves in, said the manager.

Michael has a talent.

He is very committed.

We have to make sure he doesn't lose his head but you need players like that when you are where you are.

It is not just about winning tackles - that's obvious - it's about having the desire to do the right things and be mentally hard with yourself.

We need players to step forward and say, 'right, I am going to be an example today and take things forward,' and we get that from people like Michael Doyle and Stephen Hughes, and then we have got a great chance of staying in the league.

He added: We have missed Stephen's height in the midfield.

We have struggled from set plays against teams in this league who play a lot of long ba11s.

So it will be nice to have Stephen back because he has got a big physical threat, as well as Doyler's physical side.

Chris Coleman has Coventry City double training to beat the drop

COVENTRY CITY'S players have been doing double training sessions in a bid to brush up on their shortcomings.

Sky Blues boss Chris Coleman insists it is not a punishment, but just him and his coaching staff trying to make the most of the short time they have had to work with the squad.

There were a few long faces on Monday morning, as you would expect, but we had a couple of good training sessions because we don't have the luxury of working in a pre-season with the players for six or eight weeks on what we want to do, he revealed.

So we are trying to get a balance of as many training sessions with the players to get used to each other because we haven't got a lot of time.

We had a defensive session in the morning and an offensive session in the afternoon and we are trying to cover everything without bamboozling the guys and changing too much too soon.

We want to work with them as much as possible without fatiguing them because we have got a big game tomorrow night.

But it is not a punishment and if you saw the players after the game on Sa ay they were devastated and they know they are better than what they showed.

There has been a lot to talk about after Sa ay and we have been trying to squeeze that in at the same time as preparing for QPR on Wednesday.

He added: If you are losing games you are not scoring enough and conceding too much, so that's the two things we are looking at.

First and foremost you have got to start with a clean sheet and can you hang on to that without being too negative, but we are trying to work on both.

On Sa ay I was disappointed in the last third when we got into good positions and didn't capitalise on it.

Equally, at the other end we are defending for our lives in the wrong areas of the pitch because there is a lack of confidence again.

We are defending too deeply and are too erratic in our decision-making, so there are things at both ends of the pitch that we have to address if we are going to be successful in the next 11 or 12 games.

The good thing is we can do that and if we can keep a couple of clean sheets back to back we can bounce on big style from there, but we have to keep that first one and do it convincingly as well, without being lucky with it, by good crisp defending.

And once we get a bit of confidence we can build from there.

Jay Tabb: Coventry City up for relegation battle

JAY TABB has promised that Coventry City's confidence-sapped squad are ready to battle for their Championship lives.

The little midfielder, whose hyperactive display was one of the few Sky Blue consolations from Sa ay's capitulation at Sc*nthorpe, admits that morale has sagged since City marked Chris Coleman's arrival with a win against Leicester.

But he insisted: Heads can go down when you're losing games, but we've got to push that out of the way and carry on.

There's no point in trying to dress it up - we know that we're in a relegation battle and we're running out of games.

That's not a very nice feeling, but it's down to us to sort things out; we've got to scr*p for every point to reach our target.

We should be able to go to places like Sc*nthorpe and get a result, but at the moment we're just too easy to beat away from home.

We came back well after their first goal but it was a totally different story in the second half.

They played the way they do and got their goal, and it doesn't matter that it was a fluke because we've been beaten.

We can't keep losing games like this because that's the difference between us and the teams above us.

We hardly ever draw and we've got to be able to grind out points.

I know it's a clich but all the games left, starting with QPR, are cup finals and we've got to be ready to roll up our sleeves and dig in.

Chris Coleman has made it clear that he wants to play football, which is great - he's a good manager who is going to improve us all as players.

But first and foremost he's got to make sure we stay up.

We believe that we are a good side when we play the way we can, but right now we can't think like that; we can't go out there thinking we're going to play like Brazil.

We've got to start getting some points any way we can because a club like this can't go down - we can't allow that to happen.

Goalkeeper Andy Marshall agreed: It's down to us as a team to sort things out because it's just not good enough at the moment.

I won 't say we're worried about relegation, because that would be sending out the wrong message, but we are all very aware of the position we're in and we know what we've got to do to get out of it.

Chris Coleman hits loan log-jam

CHRIS COLEMAN admits his bid to bring in loan players is proving difficult.

I can't say that anyone is imminent, said the City boss yesterday.

Coleman has just over two weeks before the loan window closes on Thursday, March 27.

We are looking and trying and I think it is important that we see one or two new faces to help the guys that we have got, but at the minute I can't say, yes, definitely.

You can never be definite because there is always a twist and a turn.

But we are trying and hopefully we will be successful before the end of the window.

The Hoops: The lowdown

FOR THOSE who thought Coventry City's Operation Premiership was a joke, that's nothing compared to the ambitions of QPR's new owners who have set their sights on Champions League football in four years!

And after splashing out somewhere in the region of 6 million in the January transfer window, Renault boss Flavio Briatore and his backers, who include Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone, have put their money where their mouth is to lay the foundations for such dizzy heights.

Although they brushed aside automatic promotion chasing Stoke City 3-0 on Sunday, Rangers remain frustratingly inconsistent, seemingly able to beat the big boys - as they have done against Bristol City and Watford as well - but stumble against the strugglers, which may be good news for the Sky Blues.

Given the weekend victory at Loftus Road, Italian manager Luigi De Canio is expected to field an unchanged side at the Ricoh Arena tonight including seven players that were bought in January, some of whom were paid for after joining the club earlier on loan with a view to permanent deals.

They include midfield maestro Akos Buzsaky whose 56th minute strike against the Potters was his eighth of the season for the Hoops.

Currently deployed wide right, the 500,000 signing from Plymouth is always a threat in and around the box, while 800,000 capture from Sheffield United, Mikele Leigertwood, waded in with an early brace to set Rangers on their way against Stoke.

Not known for his goal scoring exploits, Leigertwood is more of a grafter alongside all rounder Martin Rowlands in the heart of the midfield, while Hogan Ephraim likes to get forward and take on his full-back from the left.

Up front Rowan Vine is not exactly prolific but works incredibly hard and creates plenty of opportunities for his strike partner Patrick Agyemang.

De Canio likes to play tidy passing football and doesn't usually subscribe to the sit tight and hit them on the break tactics that a lot of teams favour away from home, and meddling owner Briatore recently had a say in that when he instructed his manager to play 4-4-2 away from home rather than go with a lone front man.

I can't save Coventry City alone, says Chris Coleman

CHRIS COLEMAN has asked Coventry City supporters to stick with him and the team through what is becoming an increasingly sticky period for the club.

The Sky Blues boss admits he is no Messiah who can swan in and save the club from relegation.

But he is confident that with lots of hard work from the players and staff, and the full backing from the fans, they can pull clear of trouble, starting against QPR at the Ricoh Arena tonight (7.45).

We took a lot of fans to Sc*nthorpe and I felt sorry for them, said the City boss.

I would like to ask them to stay with us because they are going to be important for us.

They were out-singing the Sc*nthorpe fans on Sa ay and we have got to make sure we give them something back.

But they are going to be massive for us in the games coming up at home.

They are probably going to see one or two nervous performances.

I hope they don't, but they may do, and we have to keep them on-side because we need to stick together until we are out of the mess we are in and then bounce on from there.

He added: There is no quick fix and I am not the answer to arrive just like that.

I am not a good enough manager just to turn up and show my face - I need to work hard, just like Steve Kean and the management team.

Looking at the bigger picture away from his immediate concerns, he admits he has a big job on his hands restructuring City's squad after inheriting a large group of players with little depth.

And he says he is amazed at how many left-footed players the club has as he attempts to provide a bit of balance to the team.

People talk about us being a big squad in terms of numbers but we are much of a muchness, have got too many left-sided players and we are not the biggest of teams, so there is a lot to address and that's what we are trying to do.

But we have got enough there to keep us in the division whether we bring in someone else or not, but we would prefer to make sure and if we can mix it up a little bit with a few new faces we will try to do that.

He added: I can't believe the amount of left-sided players we have got.

We have got something like 12 and in all my time in football I have never met a manger or player who hasn't said to me, 'do you know any left-sided players because we are looking for one?'.

And now I know they have all been here.

And asked if he is surprised that there is only one recognised right-back at the club - the injured David McNamee - he admitted: Yes, we have got young Isaac Osbourne who is a midfielder playing right-back for us, so there are certain areas we need to address and improve.

Coventry police pledge after football hooligan riot

EXTRA police officers will be on the streets of Ear on ahead of matches at the Ricoh Arena in the aftermath of a street brawl between rival football thugs.

Violent clashes involving Coventry and Leicester fans flared in Ear on Avenue South, around the car park of the City Arms pub on February 23.

A total of 12 people have since been arrested following the brawl, which left traders and residents taking cover in nearby shops.

The eight men from Leicester and four from Coventry remain on police bail.

Scores of police officers descended on the usually quiet street within minutes to contain the disorder.

Sergeant David Bailey, of the Ear on neighbourhood policing team, is keen to reassure residents that high-visibility patrols will be increased on match days to try to prevent a repeat of the disturbance.

He said: Ear on is not traditionally a drinking area for football fans prior to games.

This would suggest that this violence was preplanned and not just a random incident.

The events of Sa ay, February 23, were particularly shocking for everyone who witnessed them.

I can assure the residents of Ear on and the wider community that everything is being done to identify offenders and bring them to justice.

He added: I would also like to assure them that, while the majority of football fans are law abiding, we will continue to deal robustly with the minority intent on violence.

The additional policing has been welcomed by those who witnessed the violence.

Steve Gollop, owner of Plan B in Ear on Street, said: Any police presence is a good thing.

My own feeling is that it was a one-off, but it is better to be safe than sorry.

I think the next time that Coventry play Leicester at the Ricoh there will need to be police patrols in other areas like Daventry Road, Cheylesmore and Ball Hill because it may move elsewhere - that is my biggest worry.

If anyone has any information regarding individuals involved in the disorder they can contact West Midlands Police on 0845 113 5000 or Crimestoppers, in confidence, on 0800 555 111.

Scott Dann ready to grab his Coventry City chance

SET to make only his third start for the Sky Blues tonight, Scott Dann is keen to take his chance in the first team.

New boss Chris Coleman got his first proper look at the 21-year-old January recruit at Sc*nthorpe on Sa ay.

And, despite a disappointing 2-1 defeat, appears ready to keep faith with the young talent tipped for international honours.

The Burnley performance wasn't great and I wanted to have a good look at Scott Dann and I wasn't disappointed with him, revealed Coleman, who dropped Elliott Ward to make way for the former Walsall centre-back.

He's only 21 but he talks very well and is only going to get better.

He has only played two or three games for us but I think he is going to do a good job.

I had a good chat with Wardy and he was disappointed but took it on the chin like a man.

But they have all got a part to play whether they are in the team or not, in terms of staying positive and keeping the team spirit going.

Quietly spoken and slightly nervous in a press conference situation, Dann is clearly more comfortable on the pitch where he is strong and confident with a steely determination to do well at his new club.

I am delighted to be at Coventry which is the next step for me, it is just that the results have not been going as well as late and we have got to work hard to put those right, he said.

The difference is obviously playing against much better players and the game is a bit quicker, but I feel all right when I am on the pitch.

I didn't know I was playing until just before the game on Sa ay.

I have just been preparing as usual as if I am going to play.

I wouldn't say it came as a surprise to me but I didn't know when my chance was going to come.

But I have got in and hopefully I can stay in as long as possible.

I played with Marcus Hall before in the reserves and I have been training for about a month with him and he's a good player, but it doesn't really matter who I play alongside as long as I am in the team myself.

The main thing is that whoever plays is getting the results.

Having jumped up a league, Dann has gone from a promotion push to a relegation battle in a matter of weeks, but he insists he approaches games exactly the same way.

There is a different mindset because at Walsall we had been used to winning games and going on winning runs, he said.

But we have got a squad capable of doing that here and we just have to stick together and keep working hard with the new manager to try our best, and hopefully we will be OK.

But my attitude hasn't changed and I still go into every game looking to try my best and win.

As for his theory as to why things are not going so well for City, he added: It might have a bit to do with confidence because when you are losing games you become a bit low and you just need something to get you back into your winning habits, and we have got to do that as soon as we can.

The new manager has only been in a couple of weeks and it is still lively in training and everyone is bubbly, but we need to look at ourselves and work even harder now that we are s*cked into even more of a relegation battle to get away from trouble as much as we can.

We know we didn't play well as a team or individuals on Sa ay, and we know we are capable of playing a lot better than that.

We just need to get ourselves back on track and hopefully the results will come soon.

It is a tough league and I watched the QPR game on Sunday and they are a good side, but there are a lot of good sides in the division and we have just got to concentrate on our own game and performance and make sure we are ready for them tonight.

With goal seemingly hard to come by at the moment, Dann's threat from set pieces is another benefit of having him in the team.

When we get corners and free kicks I go up there thinking I am going to score and trying to get on the end of things to help the team out at that end of the pitch, he said, but judging my own performance, I have just got to concentrate on keeping clean sheets and if any goals come it will be a bonus.

Back to the relative comfort of consecutive home games, Dann believes the team can do a lot better at the Ricoh Arena.

I still think we can improve on our home performances even though we have done well in the last couple of league games there, he said.

But we haven't won away for quite a while, and we need to get that right to move away from trouble.

We have got Tuesday, Sa ay for the next few weeks and whether it is away or home we need to make sure we are ready to battle for each other.