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Central defender Calum Davenport who has been impressing in the First Division this season has been selected in the England Under 20s squad to face Italy on Wednesday 27th November at Sunderland's Stadium of Light. Coach Les Reed welcomes him back, saying:

"Calum has had some unfortunate injury problems over the last 18 months but thankfully he looks to be over them now and is playing ever so well for Coventry.

"Not only is he a physical presence at the back and happy on the ball, but he has also been getting himself on the scoresheet."

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Burnley boss Stan Ternent paid tribute to the way Coventry played in their 3-1 loss to the Clarets, especially after Craig Hignett's red card.
Hignett, on loan from Premiership side Blackburn Rovers, was sent off for foul and abusive language after 38 minutes at Turf Moor when City were already two down thanks to goals from Robbie Blake and Tony Grant.
Boss Gary McAllister reduced the deficit from the penalty spot on 66 minutes, before Burnley sealed the win when Callum Davenport deflected a shot past his own keeper four minutes from time.
And Ternent was full of praise for the way the Sky Blues applied themselves despite being a man down for over half the game.
He said: "We had a bit of luck. But you need that, and credit to Coventry for the way they played a man short.
"Coventry are a very good side with some extremely good players at this level. It's a very good win for us.''

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5 scandinavians on trial next week

also the dublin loan deal could still go through and ccfc's wage bill is now down to 10 million which they r looking to halve by next season

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Mixed results for Coventry’s Academy this weekend, with Reading visiting the Sky Blue Lodge.

The under 17s drew 1-1 against The Royals with Blake Newbold scoring for City. The game was only Newbold’s second appearance for Coventry this season after a hamstring injury kept him out of the side for seven months.

The under 19s suffered another defeat, losing 3-0 to the visitors.

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Gary McAllister was left to reflect on another game where the Sky Blues have failed to capitalise on their chances after the defeat to Burnley on Saturday.

Yet again City started quite brightly and Craig Hignett forced two excellent saves from the Burnley keeper before Robbie Blake opened the scoring for the Clarets from the penalty spot after 15 minutes.

Macca was satisfied with the start made by his team but was disappointed with another major first half incident – the sending off of Craig Hignett for what the referee described as an offensive gesture made towards the linesman. The forward will now have to miss two games through suspension.

'We looked sharp and created chances in the first half as was the case against Crystal Palace in the week but again they went and scored. It was a penalty so I don’t have too many complaints about that.

'I didn’t see the sending off. I had turned away and gone upfield expecting the game to move on and the next thing I know the referee’s shown him a red card.

'Craig is very disappointed because a red card means he will now miss a couple of games and he is desperate for the chance to show people what he can do for us. He’s only here until the end of the year so he now has two less games to do that.

'Craig’s an experienced professional and if he did do anything he knows he’s put his team in jeopardy.'

Despite being two goals down and minus a player the Sky Blues rallied in the second period. Macca gave some hope of a comeback from the penalty spot with just under half an hour remaining and Gary McSheffrey created a great chance to equalise after running at the Burnley defence but could not control his shot.

Once again Macca was pleased with the performance but saw one of his strikers lose composure in front of goal, although he still believes Coventry will get the results if work-rate remains so high.

'We showed a positive effort in the second half - but I want to see us playing like that when the score is still 0-0.

'At 2-1 we were looking sharp and we showed plenty of positives again. I thought we’d have one more golden opportunity before the end of the game and we did. Gary McSheffrey had done all the hard work and he showed terrific skill to cut into the penalty area but he just did not have that edge to finish it off.

'We’ve come away and lost 3-1 and it looks like we've had a drubbing. I don't see it like that, and I am sure if we keep playing our football our luck will change. We feel a little hard done by to have lost but that's how it goes. There is still a lot of work to be done before the Wolves game at home next Saturday.'

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Gary McAllister has earmarked the January sales to give Coventry City a promotion push - but Julian Joachim has told him to put his cash away.

The former England Under-21 striker suffered a midweek setback when his season was just about to get back on track.

But he is determined to be fit to be playing and scoring again by Christmas.

After a 12-week injury lay-off, Joachim made a long overdue appearance as a substitute against Rotherham.

But when he rolled up to board the team coach ahead of Wednesday night's Worthington Cup defeat at Selhurst Park, he did so with a familiar story to tell his manager.

It is seven games now since any of City's recognised strikers netted and 28-year-old Joachim knows the news that he has broken down again could not have come at a worse time - for either himself or the club.

"It was just one thing after another last season and my luck has not changed since then," said Joachim.

"I got a good pre-season under my belt and then I picked up this ankle problem. I don't even know what it is.

"It's just that whenever my foot is extended or pointing, there's a sharp pain.

"I had a course of injections and that seemed to work. Then I woke up on Wednesday and it was agony again. We've decided that an operation may be the way forward.

"I'm having that in a week or so, and I'm hoping that it will be three or four weeks after that before I'm playing again.

"I hope it is because I'm as frustrated as anyone at not being able to play.

"My confidence is a bit low as well through not playing but I'm determined to bounce back.

"I can understand the fans wondering when they might see me playing again and I know this will sound silly to them, but I'm not really one for injuries. The longest I've had out of the game was six before I moved to Coventry and I get my career going again. Believe no fun when you are not fit."

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McAllister Has Painted Himself Into A Corner

By Neville Hadsley
Date: 11/11/2002

The Sky Blues' powers of recovery have improved hugely under Gary McAllister's leadership. But even he could not inspire City to come back from 2-0 down and a man short. Who could? The fact is that if you can't take your chances, you will always struggle. So why can't we take our chances?

One fundamental problem that has not been addressed, or even mentioned it seems, is why we keep conceding the first goal. So far it is 11 times out of 18 matches this season - which is a shocking statistic.
Credit must be due to McAllister and his men that on seven of those occasions the side has gone on to earn at least a point. At least the bottle is there.


Ysrael Zuniga - lost option?.
But the litany of struggling teams that have scored first is embarrassing - Grimsby, Sheffield Wednesday, Bradford, Millwall - strugglers all.

Burnley are not quite in that bracket but they are not high-flyers either so Saturday's result is especially embarrassing.

It's hard to win games from behind and if we are constantly going to hand teams a goal - or two - start - we have no chance of achieving anything.

Perhaps though the problem is not the defence but the attack. Sometimes, as with the Grimsby game, and the Palace game in midweek we go behind after we should be two or three up.

Macca seems to have no confidence in his strikers - adopting negative formations and when Lee Mills is your only striker, is it any wonder we don't score?

Yes Mills works hard and (as we saw against Millwall) is capable of the odd spectacular. But his record at Highfield Road (10 goals in 35 appearances) is not great.

McAllister's lack of faith in anyone else - Jay Bothroyd and Gary McSheffrey in particular - means he has no options other than to trawl the market for another loan signing. Will we reach the day when the whole outfield team is made up of loan signings? It feels like we are going that way.

Perhaps now we are paying the price for McAllister's all-too-hasty disposal of Ysrael Zuniga and (to a lesser extent) Jairo Martinez. Both were the sort of predatory striker which we now do not have.

Zuniga in particular was experienced and offered a different kind of threat to Bothroyd, Mills and McSheffrey.

In his very last game in a Sky Blue shirt Zuniga scored two very neat goals against Scunthorpe United at Glandford Park. You might say, oh, it's only Scunthorpe but to my eye Zuniga had a calm eye for goal that the three bearing the brunt of the striking duties at the moment.

With Joachim out of the picture altogether, McAllister has no options. He has, perhaps through pressure from above, painted himself into a corner. By dumping all other options, sidelining Bothroyd (still our top scorer in the league) and McSheffrey, he's dealt himself a weak hand.

Personally, I don't think Mills is the answer. Until we find the answer, we'll have more days like Turf Moor.

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Fellow defender Gary Caldwell and midfielder Brian Kerr have also been named in the Scotland Under 21 squad to face Belgium in Molenbeek on November 19.

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Sky Blues’ Chief Executive Graham Hover says Coventry City is not aware of any plans for a breakaway First Division at the current time – although the idea cannot be ruled out for the future.

Reports in a Sunday newspaper stated First Division Chairman were backing a plan to sever ties with the lower leagues and although this is not the case at present, Hover stresses the current financial situation in football dictates changes will have to be made.

"I don’t think the concept of the Phoenix League was handled particularly well but the idea did demonstrate that football cannot continue in its present condition.

"It is evident from the financial position of clubs that things cannot remain the same – but whether the necessary changes take place in the existing structure of the league or take the form of a breakaway division remains to be seen."

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Academy goalkeeper Jonathan Tuffey played for Northern Ireland's Under 16 side in a Victory Shield clash against Scotland on Friday night.

Despite a good performance from Northern Ireland, the Scots ran out 2-1 winners to condemn their opponents to two defeats in two games in the competition.

Tuffey, who has been in excellent form for Coventry City's Under 17s this season, played for the whole match.