Mark Robins explains decision to make change in Coventry City goal
Mark Robins has explained his thinking in changing his Coventry City goalkeeper after recalling Ben Wilson to the starting line-up in place of summer signing Oliver Dovin at Leeds.
Wilson – the elder statesman of the Sky Blues squad these days at 32 – had performed well in the three Carabao Cup games this season but had been understudy in the league until Saturday’s match at Elland Road when he made his first Championship appearance of the campaign.
Dovin hasn’t done a great deal wrong, with City having only lost by the odd goal here and there, albeit yet to keep a clean sheet in the division. The subject has sparked plenty of debate amongst the fans, some of whom were surprised at the change at the weekend, while others had called for Wilson to be reinstalled after pulling off some impressive saves against Spurs.
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Explaining the decision to drop Dovin and bring Wilson back between the posts, the manager said: “Just to give the players more of a voice, to try to give them that voice and confidence. Ben knows the league and is confident, played in it for a number of years now and he played well in the games just recently, so that was the reason. But also just to give Oliver a little bit of a breather, mentally.”
The 22-year-old Swede is both young for a senior goalkeeper and inexperienced when it comes to the English second tier.
“That’s fair,” agreed Robins.