Source: FOOTYMAD
Platt confident despite striker shortage
Injuries reduce Coventry attacking options Coventry City travel to Ipswich tomorrow with a depleted striker force with Eastwood out for a few more weeks, King still recovering from a dead leg and hamstring twinge and winger Danny Ward back in Bolton undergoing a hernia operation. With King still and injury doubt, the most likely starting lineup for Boothroyd to choose will be Clive Platt and Lukas Jutkiewicz, with either Gary McSheffrey or Carl Baker playing on the wing. One of Coventry City's fit strikers Clive Platt is, however, in confident mood that his club can come away from Portman Road with something from the game. “We’re not going to Ipswich thinking we’ve got to sit back for a draw,”said Platt. “A point would be a good result there, but we’ll definitely be looking for all three. “Their record suggests that they will be hard to break down because they don’t concede many goals. They’ve got some big boys at the back who like to compete and win headers, but hopefully they’re not so hot on crosses and we can capitalise on that. “We’ve got a lot of height in the side now and a couple of times we have fallen into the trap of just lumping the ball into the box. You have to mix things up. When teams drop off, you have to play in the space they leave, and we’ve got players who can do that." “The good thing is that we’ve got players who can do different jobs, bring something different to the team, and that gives us five or six options up front. It’s not working we don’t just have to replace like for like, we can try something different." “Me and Juke are a big force up front, but if you put Marlon or Freddie alongside either of us you’ve got pace as well and that gives the opposition defence something different to think about.” Platt has says he has fond memories of Portman Road. He played there while he was still at Colchester, “I scored one of my best goals for Colchester there three years ago– a 25-yard volley that put us one up," he said. "It would be great to produce something similar, but we ended up losing that game 3-1, so I don’t mind who scores as long as we get the right result.” Boothroyd confirmed that said that he would be without Ward for a few weeks and that King would have a late fitness test. Bothroyd confirmed, “Marlon will have a fitness test before we travel, but it might be a little bit too soon for him. I’ve had a chat with him and the physios and what we don’t want to do is rush him back before he’s completely ready." “He told me that he wants to come back flying fit so that he gets his 20 goals without having to get injured again, so we will see how he is and if there is any doubt whatsoever then I will pull him back and see if we can get him right for Cardiff." “He trained with us for five weeks before he signed but the intensity of league football is bound to take its toll, even for a guy of his experience and quality. We want to get him back playing but we don’t want to take any risks with him.”
