Sore loser, taking risks & being one of the most targeted players in the division – EMC on his Coventry City move.
Coventry City news from CoventryLive as Sky Blues reporter Andy Turner sat down with exciting summer signing Ephron Mason-Clark to talk about his big move and his hopes and ambitions for the season ahead
The arrival of Ephron Mason-Clark has been one of the most eagerly anticipated by Coventry City fans this summer. Signed back in January from Peterborough United for a significant fee of £4.25million, the winger was unable to join the Sky Blues for the second half of the 2023/24 season due to Posh owner Darragh MacAnthony’s insistence that he stay at London Road for the remainder of the campaign as part of the terms of the deal.
A case of delayed gratification then, as far as Mark Robins and City supporters are concerned as the 24-year-old had to wait and hook up with the Championship club in pre-season. The wait, however, should be worthwhile, with the manager insisting: “He’s exciting.
“He started at Barnet, moved to Peterborough and had a couple of years where his progress was really good and caught the eye of the recruitment department. He’s got a lot of really good attributes, got a lot of games under his belt and played in big games, won at Wembley with Peterborough (in the EFL Trophy) and just fell a little bit short in the play-offs.
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“The season before last they got to a really good position (in the play-offs) with Sheffield Wednesday and ended up losing in that, so he has had a lot of experiences.”
Speaking exclusively to the CoventryLive, Mason-Clark said: “Me and my family have settled in well and I’m loving it so far. The people and the whole environment, it’s been brilliant. We had a house in Peterborough so we have relocated from there. Originally we’re both from South London, but this isn’t a million miles away on the train.”
Parenthood has also been a big change in his life in the last couple of years.
“I have a two year old boy, Zaire,” he said. “It’s life changing, on and off the pitch. I think my preparation and looking after myself went to another level, and it’s been nothing but good since.”
Asked when he was aware of Coventry’s interest and how the deal came about, he revealed: “I first heard about it in December from my dad. The relationship I have with my agent, he speaks to my dad really and I don’t really hear anything until anything gets serious. That’s how it was with my transfer to Peterborough (from Barnet) and I didn’t know about the whole thing until a week before it was happening, so my dad sort of keeps it between him and the agent which allows me to focus on the football side of things.”
Coventry City’s Ephron Mason-Clark attempts a shot on goal during the pre-season friendly match at the Coventry Building Society
Coventry City’s Ephron Mason-Clark attempts a shot on goal during the pre-season friendly match at the Coventry Building Society
He added: “To be fair, when I first heard about Coventry’s interest I was buzzing but I didn’t want to get too carried away because I was still at Peterborough and focused on that season. It wasn’t a case that my head switched completely because I was still focused on my job there.”
The player was clearly torn at the time, on the one hand excited about joining the Sky Blues and getting going in the Championship versus continuing the amazing season he and Posh were enjoying with silverware and a promotion push on the cards.
“At first I really wanted to get to Coventry as soon as I could but the way it worked out was amazing because I was able to finish at Peterborough on a positive note and get my game-time in there. Going to a new team you are not guaranteed to go straight in, you know.”
But competition is something he clearly embraces, rather than shies away from.
“I definitely saw that as a challenge when I first looked at the team here because the squad is very, very competitive and this is going to really challenge myself,” said the quick and powerful wide-man.
“I knew that coming into a team like this I wouldn’t be guaranteed to be starting the way I was fortunately doing at Peterborough, so that challenge is something I have taken on and I can’t wait for the season now.”
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One of most targeted players in League One last year because of his attacking threat, Mason-Clark can expect more of the same, if not worse, in the second tier. Asked how he coped with that close attention at his previous club and whether he’s expecting it to be even worse in the Championship, he said: “Yeah, of course. I think at Peterborough it was a challenge with all the silly fouls and comments from opposition players but I was able to block it out. As a player I changed my game a little bit and didn’t want to be too one-dimensional or predictable for the opposition.
“I spoke to the gaffer and the analysis team at Peterborough to help me with different scenarios in different games, and it was the same for my team-mate Kwame Poku as well, because we went through that patch where defenders were trying to make it predictable for us, and our team-mates and the coaching staff helped a lot.”
It must be hard, however, when on the end of a bit of physical treatment not to see red and retaliate.
“Yes, and I think I have learned from playing in the National League where there are loads of silly challenges,” he said. “I spoke to my parents about it and they said that I should take it as a compliment, really, and then just get up and try not to retaliate. Some of them were just to time-waste and stop you from counter-attacking but some could be quite malicious. So it’s having that calmness to just battle and get on with it.”
