COVENTRY City are looking to bolster their play-off firepower by drafting in another loan player ahead of Saturday's Ricoh Arena clash with promotion rivals Swindon Town.
Development director Steve Waggott is hoping to add more quality to the Sky Blues squad today to enable the player to train with his new team-mates and prepare for the weekend, and the signs are that a striker is his priority to help with the final promotion push.
The Telegraph also understands that interim boss Lee Carsley is expected to be in charge for the visit by the managerless Robins with City not expected to make a full-time appointment until early next week.
“It would be nice to bring in an extra body and we will be talking to one or two people today to try to get something done before the game against Swindon,“ confirmed Waggott.
“I've said to Lee that we will help in every way we can * that's why we brought in Aaron Martin until the end of the season and recalled Cody McDonald from Gillingham to bolster what is already a strong squad.
“We will work as hard as we possibly can and I've already made several inquiries regarding players.
“We will do our best but as Lee Carsley said earlier in the week, we only want to add someone if they can add extra strength to the squad.“
Centre-half Martin, meanwhile, has already made the desired impact as he looks to complete a hat-trick of promotions after joining the club from Premier League Southampton this week.
The 23-year-old defender made an impressive debut on Tuesday as he helped City keep a clean sheet to secure three crucial points against Saints' neighbours Bournemouth.
And his first impressions of his new team-mates are that they are more than capable of getting back to the Championship in the last eight weeks of the campaign.
“I am massively impressed by Coventry,“ said the 6ft 3 inch tall centreback. “The way we defended and the way we counter attacked was brilliant and we need to keep pushing and maintain the high standards.
“I have learned a lot from getting back-to-back promotions, knowing how hard you have to work and literally day-in, day-out looking after yourself to make sure everything is right. You have to be the ultimate professional if you really want to go up. There's so much you have to sacrifice to do that but it's so worth it in the end and I think the boys here are more than capable of doing it.
“If I could get another promotion on my CV it would be brilliant * three in three would be amazing.“
Martin has already shown he's got the quality to help City achieve their ambitions with a busy but assured display at Dean Court. “It was great and the best thing was to keep a clean sheet and take three points away from home which made it a really nice start for me,“ said the Isle of Wight-born player who started his career at non-league Eastleigh.
“There was plenty to do because they came right at us for pretty much the whole of the game, especially the first 20-25 minutes when they were pressing us high.
But I thought we dealt with it well and they are the patches of pressure you have to get through, and these are the games you need to win if you want to go up.
“I got a phone call last Friday and I was chomping at the bit to play some more games so I came up to Coventry on Sunday night, trained Monday and started Tuesday.
“It is a little bit difficult slotting in to a new back line, so it's a case of getting used to different players and how they play, but they are all good lads and have made me feel really welcome. And they showed against Bournemouth that we'll only get better.“
“The way Leon Clarke took his goal was absolutely brilliant and it does so much for the team to score just before half time. It raises everyone and for us to come out in the second half the way we did was really positive.
“They should arguably have been in front with the clear cut chance they had but you have to take your chances when you get them and they didn't. They put a lot of balls in the box but we defended really well.
“The manager told us at half time to try not to drop too quickly and make sure we keep getting the ball back and when we did to relax on it and hit them on the counter as well. And I thought we did that really well.
Martin praised the way caretaker boss Lee Carsley helped close out the game out with his choice of substitutes, sending on a third centre-half in William Edjenguele as well as the David Bell and Cody McDonald.
“The gaffer got it spot on with the subs, especially when Bournemouth sent their big man Steve Fletcher up front because William did well just sitting in front of him and stopping him from flicking it on. They were great subs who did so much for us when they went on.
“I'm looking forward to playing at the Ricoh and we just have to work even harder than we did the other night. If we can play like that and stay solid I think we can turn things round at home.
“I played quite a few games in League One and last year in the Championship as well. This league is where I learned my trade so I know it well and hopefully I can help Coventry do well while I'm here.“
Development director Steve Waggott is hoping to add more quality to the Sky Blues squad today to enable the player to train with his new team-mates and prepare for the weekend, and the signs are that a striker is his priority to help with the final promotion push.
The Telegraph also understands that interim boss Lee Carsley is expected to be in charge for the visit by the managerless Robins with City not expected to make a full-time appointment until early next week.
“It would be nice to bring in an extra body and we will be talking to one or two people today to try to get something done before the game against Swindon,“ confirmed Waggott.
“I've said to Lee that we will help in every way we can * that's why we brought in Aaron Martin until the end of the season and recalled Cody McDonald from Gillingham to bolster what is already a strong squad.
“We will work as hard as we possibly can and I've already made several inquiries regarding players.
“We will do our best but as Lee Carsley said earlier in the week, we only want to add someone if they can add extra strength to the squad.“
Centre-half Martin, meanwhile, has already made the desired impact as he looks to complete a hat-trick of promotions after joining the club from Premier League Southampton this week.
The 23-year-old defender made an impressive debut on Tuesday as he helped City keep a clean sheet to secure three crucial points against Saints' neighbours Bournemouth.
And his first impressions of his new team-mates are that they are more than capable of getting back to the Championship in the last eight weeks of the campaign.
“I am massively impressed by Coventry,“ said the 6ft 3 inch tall centreback. “The way we defended and the way we counter attacked was brilliant and we need to keep pushing and maintain the high standards.
“I have learned a lot from getting back-to-back promotions, knowing how hard you have to work and literally day-in, day-out looking after yourself to make sure everything is right. You have to be the ultimate professional if you really want to go up. There's so much you have to sacrifice to do that but it's so worth it in the end and I think the boys here are more than capable of doing it.
“If I could get another promotion on my CV it would be brilliant * three in three would be amazing.“
Martin has already shown he's got the quality to help City achieve their ambitions with a busy but assured display at Dean Court. “It was great and the best thing was to keep a clean sheet and take three points away from home which made it a really nice start for me,“ said the Isle of Wight-born player who started his career at non-league Eastleigh.
“There was plenty to do because they came right at us for pretty much the whole of the game, especially the first 20-25 minutes when they were pressing us high.
But I thought we dealt with it well and they are the patches of pressure you have to get through, and these are the games you need to win if you want to go up.
“I got a phone call last Friday and I was chomping at the bit to play some more games so I came up to Coventry on Sunday night, trained Monday and started Tuesday.
“It is a little bit difficult slotting in to a new back line, so it's a case of getting used to different players and how they play, but they are all good lads and have made me feel really welcome. And they showed against Bournemouth that we'll only get better.“
“The way Leon Clarke took his goal was absolutely brilliant and it does so much for the team to score just before half time. It raises everyone and for us to come out in the second half the way we did was really positive.
“They should arguably have been in front with the clear cut chance they had but you have to take your chances when you get them and they didn't. They put a lot of balls in the box but we defended really well.
“The manager told us at half time to try not to drop too quickly and make sure we keep getting the ball back and when we did to relax on it and hit them on the counter as well. And I thought we did that really well.
Martin praised the way caretaker boss Lee Carsley helped close out the game out with his choice of substitutes, sending on a third centre-half in William Edjenguele as well as the David Bell and Cody McDonald.
“The gaffer got it spot on with the subs, especially when Bournemouth sent their big man Steve Fletcher up front because William did well just sitting in front of him and stopping him from flicking it on. They were great subs who did so much for us when they went on.
“I'm looking forward to playing at the Ricoh and we just have to work even harder than we did the other night. If we can play like that and stay solid I think we can turn things round at home.
“I played quite a few games in League One and last year in the Championship as well. This league is where I learned my trade so I know it well and hopefully I can help Coventry do well while I'm here.“
