Mark Robins admits that it’s going to ‘take a while’ to get Ben Sheaf back up to speed following his return to full contact training with his Coventry City teammates.
The Sky Blues boss has revealed that he hopes to get the influential midfielder along with winger Tatsuhiro Sakamoto back “some time” this week but insists he won’t take any risks with either of them. Sheaf – who has been sorely missed since suffering ankle ligament damage in pre-season – made a tentative return as a late substitute against Oxford in the Carabao Cup last month but aggravated the injury two days later in training, and hasn’t been involved since.
He was back on the grass running last week, as was Sakamoto who limped off at half-time against Norwich before the international break, also with an ankle injury, and the pair are hoped to be available to return to the squad against Swansea City this coming weekend. Whether it’s too soon, however, for Wednesday night’s big cup clash with Tottenham Hotspur remains to be seen.
“Let’s see where they are at this week,” said Robins, speaking after Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Watford.
“I will only put them back in when I am not risking them. But I think they have got to be honest, which they have been, and that’s great because then I can make proper decisions rather than guessing. And I don’t like guessing, for obvious reasons. But they have been really honest and hopefully I can get them back at some point this week. But they are back training.”
As for Sheaf’s fitness, the manager admits: “That’s going to take a while to get up to speed.”
Meanwhile, Joel Latibeaudiere limped off just after the hour at Vicarage Road at the weekend, replaced by Haji Wright, but the news is good for the versatile defender who was away with Jamaica during the previous fortnight.
Asked about the nature of his injury, Robins said: “Joel had cramp off the back of two games in midfield (for Jamaica) and the travel. He landed back on Thursday afternoon and came straight in. We were trying to do the recovery and protocol to keep him awake until bedtime, and then he slept Thursday night in his own bed and then obviously played the game.
"He’s the only one, I think, although Haji trained pretty well on Friday, but Joel is the one I look at and think, yeah, you can do it, because he’s used to that, used to the travel. And he did really, really well (against Watford).”
And finally, midfielder Josh Eccles is nursing an injury after falling awkwardly at the weekend, with Robins revealing: "He's has got a shoulder problem where he landed funnily, so we'll have to see how he is."