Yep, but at the same time, 'perilously close to the bare bones' after 4 league games ain't good either.
http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sp.../coventry-city-squad-perilously-close-9947078
Coventry City squad 'perilously close to bare bones' admits Tony Mowbray
13:38, 28 AUGUST 2015
BY ALAN POOLE
'We’re down to the kids filling up the bench," says Sky Blues boss
Tony Mowbray admits that, barely a month into the new season, he is perilously close to the bare bones of his Coventry City squad.
Midfielder James Maddison and defender Jordan Willis are ruled out of Monday evening’s home match against Southend with long-term injuries while on-loan duo Adam Armstrong and Bryn Morris will both be on England duty when the Sky Blues travel to Burton Albion next weekend.
“It’s always disappointing when you lose players,” said Mowbray, “particularly as we’d started the season pretty well and it was becoming a settled team.
“You’re playing the same 11 just about every game but all of a sudden you’ve got injuries and international call-ups and everything mounts up a little bit.
“What it really does is highlight the lack of numbers we’ve got at first-team level; we’re down to the kids filling up the bench – that’s not a complaint that’s just a fact.
“We could have signed loads of loads of players through the summer but we’ve been trying to get the right ones.
“I don’t like to fill my training ground with players that agents are pushing at us, telling us that the next Lionel Messi is just around the corner.
“I don’t like doing things blind but the triallists we’ve had around the ground are people I’ve worked with in the past – I know their characters and I’m just checking where their fitness levels are.
“We wouldn’t want to spoil the good start to the season by not having the right numbers in the building and it is starting to look a little thin.
“We have still got some options and we will hopefully sign another one or two in the next week or so, just to bolster us a little bit, but the window closing on Tuesday doesn’t change very much because there’s still the loan market.
“The idea is to strengthen over the next few weeks and months so the fluency of the team, it’s identity, will become stronger and stronger.”
'Our ambition is to try to make the Ricoh a fortress'
Switching the Southend match until Monday has enabled Mowbray to give his players a mini break after the 2-1 defeat at Walsall that scuppered their 100 per cent start to the League One season.
“It was a chance to take a big gulp of air and get ready to go again,” said the manager; “time to take some of the workload off their legs after the intensity of the start of the season.
“There’s a three-day build to the match so haven’t done too much work on the grass, but we’ve run over the last game and hopefully put a few things right.
“The free Saturday gives me a chance to go and watch another game involving opposition we’ve got coming up.”
Mowbray confirmed that left-back Chris Stokes is his only fresh injury worry, explaining: “Chris has had an injection in his ankle but he will hopefully train over the weekend and be fine for Monday.”
