Coventry City’s search for the club’s next 20 plus goal a season striker continues this week when Mark Robins and his coaching staff run the rule over a handful of triallists.
The Sky Blues have organised a friendly Under-23s game in order to take a look at the first batch of players who will be trying to earn a contract with the League One club in the summer.
“We will heavily strengthen in the summer – that’s the plan,” said development coach Jason Farndon , who revealed that the club have taken a different approach to recruiting younger players, now looking for more players at non-league clubs playing men’s football rather than from more established academy system prospects who have been largely limited to development football.
“The club has never really invested in the 23s before but this year has seen a massive investment with players and staff.
“We have taken players like Declan Drysdale, Morgan Williams and Sam McCallum who have taken the same route really and it’s a new way of recruiting our 23s, and it has been really successful.
“So the club have invested in the development squad more than they ever have, which makes my job better.
“The club are letting us do it and we’ve got players coming in this week to play in a trial game at the end of the week against Rugby Town.
“We’re not thinking we have got the players in place and we’re pushing to try to get new players in because the more players of that standard you have in the building the more they drive each other on and, as you can see with the centre-backs, the competition is good.
"We have got four now pushing each other with Declan, Morgan, Jordon Thompson and Lewis Green as well, who we are converting to a centre-back.
“And the trial game gives us a chance for some of our own players to play but have a look at some triallists as well.”
Asked what positions City are particularly keen to strengthen, he said: “All of them.
“We’re just looking for good players. We know where we are a little bit light and we want players who hopefully will want to be in the manager’s squad.
“We are conscious to leave room for growth in that area and in the Under-18s coming up to the 23s, but we’re a bit light up front at the minute.
“We’ve only really got David Bremang and if he gets injured we might have to stick Lewis Green up front.”
As the club showed with the arrival of Charlie Wakefield from Chelsea in January, players are attracted to the Sky Blues because of their record of blooding young talent in the first team.
Wakefield turned down interest from Championship clubs to join City, and it was a similar story for Drysdale, who City snapped up from Tranmere amid interest from Premier League Watford.
“The selling point at our club is that the manager isn’t afraid to give young players their chance,” said Farndon.
“Some of the development squad should be moving up to the senior squad as first team players, if the manager sees fit.
“We will have to replace those but every year there’s an influx.
“Jack Burroughs will come up from the Under-18s and be part of the development squad. Jonny Ngandu is still a first year apprentice but he’s just spending his life as an Under-23s player at the moment.
“But we are actively recruiting now, and in the next few weeks you should see some triallists playing for us.”
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