Coventry City manager Tony Mowbray has said he is trying to build for the future.
With most of his current squad out of contract at the end of this season, the City boss is looking for new players as well as looking to those who will still be here.
“We can’t go out and buy 15 players, especially if we haven’t got any money, and that’s why we’re scouting all the time,” said Mowbray to the Coventry Telegraph's Andy Turner.
“Mark’s very good at finding the diamonds amongst the pebbles,” he said.
“You are walking along the beach and there’s thousands of pebbles and the secret is to find the diamonds. That’s why if you recruit in haste you lose your job.
“I’ve talked long and hard about how you have to put an infrastructure into teams because at the end of the season I think we’ve got six left under contract.
“You’ve got to have a football team that’s got an identity and some players that you can move forward with.
“Hopefully Jodi will become one of those over the next year or so and everybody will recognise his talent.
“He’ll play for the Under-21s and train with us and we’ll see how close he gets to the team. He’s got some competition – Ruben Lameiras couldn’t make the bench against Swindon – but he’s one for the future.
If he manages to force his way in so much the better.
“Andy Rose is part of that process, building a football team and a football club, and you can’t do that if everybody disappears in the summer and you have to start from scratch.
“You have to find players that you like and Rose fits into the same category as Jodi Jones – somebody we like, somebody we wanted to sign so we can build a team. When we’ve got enough of them, when we’ve got that infrastructure, we’ll develop a system, and a shape, and hopefully it will be dynamic with good ball retention and lots of goals.”
“So building for the future is what we’re trying to do really, investing in talent. They might not be for today but I have faith in the Cian Harries’ of this world who are not quite ready – couldn’t even get a game on loan at Cheltenham.
“I was talking to Lee Johnson about that this week because his dad Gary is at Cheltenham. Cian is not going to fall down on his talent, which is good enough for any team. And yet we have to wait for him to grow into a physical animal, to be a bigger, stronger man.
“That’s why we gave him a three year deal the week we walked in the building.
“George Thomas played a bit of football for me when I first arrived and will undoubtedly make a career in the game. Ruben is still a young footballer, Bigirimana is as well. We’ll wait and see what the future holds for Gael; see if he has the passion and desire to want to do it.
“Andy Rose fits that category and hopefully all these players are playing in the Championship for Coventry in a few years time.
“But it’s a long process, a difficult process, particularly if you don’t have a lot of money to spend.
“If you recruit in haste you’re going to fall down a big hole; if you take your time and find the right ones you’ve got a chance of building a good team.”
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