Coventry City will travel to Swindon on Saturday fresh from their biggest win in ages after they won their Johnstone's Paint Trophy game in style at York by 4-0.
Coventry manager Mark Robins said he now wants his side to reproduce the exciting performance over the next games, but despite the margin of the win, it was not all straightforward.
Sky Blues defender Richard Wood had to be replaced with just half an hour of the match gone when he received a heavy blow to his face after a clash of heads. Wood feared at the time he may have suffered a fractured cheekbone but now it looks as if he has severe bruising around his eye and cheek.
After receiving treatment on the field Wood was substituted. As he left the field he was clearly sporting a huge lump on his cheek. Cyrus Christie was sent on in his place but with no recognised left back, Christie went to right back while Jordan Clarke, who started the game there, moved across to the other side of the pitch.
Robins, speaking to the CT's Andy Turner, said after the game, “Richard was worried that he might have fractured his cheekbone. I don’t think he has, although he is badly bruised around the eye-socket, but it wasn’t worth taking chances.
Robins will be hoping that Wood isn’t too seriously injured as he is short of experienced defenders and without him he will be forced to select a very young back four.
He continued, “It left us with a very young back four but I thought they coped really well so that bodes well for the future. This was a big test for us because we knew what to expect. They’re a side with a lot of pace going forward so we had to work hard to get control, but we did that and it was an exciting performance, I was delighted for our fans who made a long trip on a cold evening and it was great that all the goals were scored at their end.
“We lost our shape a couple of times in the first half which is to be expected but our organisation was really good in the second half and our effort was excellent, too.
"We closed them down, moved the ball really well and created opportunities and we took them really well. I wanted to get some rhythm and we got that in the second half. We stuck to the plan and if that’s what we can do then I’m excited, because that was an exciting performance.
“If we can put that effort in on Saturday and we’ll have to because that’s Swindon are an excellent side, then we‘ll give them one hell of a game.”
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