Yahoo News Coventry City injury news as favourite 'fit' ahead of final match
Mark Robins has revealed that fans’ favourite Tatsuhiro Sakamoto is “fit” as Coventry City prepare to bring a close to the 2023/24 campaign with their final match of the season.
The Sky Blues take on 17th placed QPR at the CBS Arena on Saturday (12.30pm) with the manager checking on the availability of his walking wounded, with defenders Joel Latibeaudiere (muscle) and Luis Binks (Achilles) and midfielder Victor Torp (stomach) all struggling with injuries. And with Liam Kitching suspended, that could leave City with just one fit centre-back in Bobby Thomas to face the Hoops, meaning Jake Bidwell will be on standby to fill in.
Asked if it’s a case of seeing how Latibeaudiere, Binks and Torp are when they reported for training today, Robins was giving nothing away, saying: “Not really, no. I have to see what I have got left and have a look at the team after that. But whatever we do, I expect us to perform to a really good level.”
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Moving on to Sakamoto, who has been out with a serious back injury, Robins said: “The biggest thing is he’s fit now, coming into the last game of the season. He’s been out for nine weeks, although it feels a lot longer than that, but that just shows you how many games we have had since he got injured against Preston. But he’s back on the grass and running, so yes, he’ll be available for pre-season.”
Asked if there’s a chance he might sneak onto the bench this weekend, Robins added: “He’s not been training.”
One thing is for sure, however, he will join the rest of the players for the customary lap of appreciation after the final whistle when the fans will have the opportunity to thank everyone for their efforts, and the players and staff similarly thank the fans for their incredible support.
“We’re going to appreciate the supporters because they have been immense, that’s for sure,” said the manager. “Tatsu will want to show his appreciation for the support he’s had from them as much as they will want to show their appreciation for him and everyone else.
“It will be great to see and it was lovely to see he got a round of applause when they saw him running. He’s been a big miss for us but he needed a breather because there were times when he looked like a ghost and was really in need of a break. Then, unfortunately, his injury happened but it’s great to see him on the grass and running. It’s a shame, ironic really that he’s fit come the last game of the season.”
Asked if he’s excited about what the Japanese winger will offer next season after his impressive progress in his first campaign, during which he scored seven goals and provided two assists, he said: “We saw glimpses of what he can bring but I think there’s still improvement at 26 years of age for him, and we’ll be talking to him about a programme for him over the summer.
"I think he’ll want to go back to Japan and spend some time with his family and visit his relatives and friends, but he will be working during the summer. He’s had nine weeks off so he doesn’t need any more time off. He needs to work and get a bit of a balance and rest in between so that he can come back ready to hit the ground running as we need everyone to do.”
