Coventry City FA Cup press conference notes as Mark Robins makes demand
Coventry City news and opinion from Coventry Live as we take a look at what Mark Robins said in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Sky Blues’ third round FA Cup tie with Oxford United
Mark Robins has been told by club owner Doug King that he wants an FA Cup run as Coventry City prepare to take on promotion chasing Oxford United in the third round.
The Sky Blues suffered an embarrassing exit at the same stage of the competition last season when Hollywood-funded non-league Wrexham knocked them out in a 4-3 defeat at the CBS Arena, after which the manager expressed some regret about his team selection when he initially rested star players Gus Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres on the bench. They managed to get to the fourth round the season before but also went out in the third round in 2020/21.
The problem most managers have with the competition these days is finding the right balance between resting players, with half an eye on the league, and picking a strong enough side to get the job done. Oxford boss Des Buckingham has made no secret of the fact that while he wants to compete and get through the tie, his priority remains in the league where they are currently fifth and looking to push for promotion. So the reality is, Robins could also be facing a weakened opposition.
Asked if last year’s early exit to lower opposition will be in his mind when he makes his team selection for Saturday’s 12.30 kick-off, the manager insisted it wouldn’t. “If I go back to that time, the regret is the fact that I didn’t have a squad that could handle that game. The timing of it was difficult on the back of all the games coming out of that busy Christmas period when you have to assess the players and how things are likely to work out. Some of it is a little bit of guesswork and some of it is experience and some of that instinct in picking a team you want to try and win the game.
“But obviously we had some real bad luck in that when Fabio Tavares started the game and ruptured his Achilles, and that was at a time when we had just lost Callum O’Hare on Boxing Day. I think I’m right in saying there was only Viktor fit. I think Matty Godden was injured, so there are always reasons behind a team selection. And we always try to do it the right way.
“But you have to have a little bit of an understanding of what comes next. And while you don’t want to have to prioritise, we still have to prioritise and that was the case last year. So the disappointment came from the result. We tried to give Viktor a rest last year and he ended up having to come on fairly early in the game and ended up scoring a goal.
