Source: FOOTYMAD
Boothroyd hopes to have some players back by Christmas
Timing of return could be significant Coventry City boss Aidy Boothroyd is counting the days to when he can pick from a fit and healthy bunch of players. Especially important from Boothroyd's point of view is the return of Chris Hussey and Stephen O'Halleron, City's only two recognised left backs. The timing of the return of the missing players could be of huge significance. Returning around Christmas or just into the new year, the fresh players could play a significant part in a final push up the table, particularly if Coventry are withing touching distance of a play off spot. “It is not something we have planned I can tell you that," admitted Boothroyd. "It is just one of those things but it will be like having a load of new players coming back.” Five players who could be fit again by the Christmas period are: striker Freddy Eastwood, full-backs Chris Hussey and Stephen O’Halloran and defensive midfielders Gary Deegan and Isaac Osbourne. “Both Chris and Stephen have suffered injuries but that’s part and parcel of the season,” said Boothroyd. “You are always going to get injuries and the thing to avoid is getting too many injuries to one position." "The ideal is to have a squad of 22 players with two players for each position, but we have lost two left-backs and two boys who were going to be fighting it out for a first team spot, but that has opened the door for someone else and Martin Cranie has come in and considering we are ninth in the table and on the shirt tails of the leaders, that is part of what you have got to go through and deal with. You just have to ride with it and keep going.” “What it does is toughens them up and when a player has a long term injury there is a discipline and toughness required to come through it to get back to fitness again, and once you are back you hope they feel like they have never been away, but that added patience and ability to go through things is part of the development of a player.” Boothroyd is keen to prevent a similar situation from recurring so he is determined that his injured players return when and only when they are fully fit and ready. Boothroyd has also put in place a programme which he hopes will allow them to slot straight into the squad and with their team mates by knowing exactly what they all have to do in different situations on the pitch. "That means spending time in the classroom as well as on the treatment table," he explained. “Competition for places is good and everyone has seen that already, so we have got a lot of quality to draw on, but the important thing is that everyone fits into what we are trying to do and everyone has an understanding of the way we play and the collective decisions we make in different areas." “We are fortunate because we have set up a system where those boys that are not fit to train all do their own rehab and treatment but they also do some other stuff like watching other people play and doing video work, and the idea is that we make their day quite full so that they don’t go to seed really." " We make sure they are alive and feel part of it and that they are actually getting better as players mentally, but through other people’s experiences. All the lads want to play and you just hope they can do the work to get through it."
