Torp, Allen, Sakamoto – Coventry City injury news and return dates as Sky Blues prepare for Wolves

It’s sod’s law that just as Coventry City welcome back one big injury miss, so they suffer another in the same, stretched area of the pitch. Ben Sheaf’s return from a six-week lay-off with a hamstring tear was a real boost, and the 26-year-old travelled with the Sky Blues squad to Watford at the weekend and duly took his place among the substitutes with the plan to break him back in gently.

However, a muscle problem with fellow midfielder Victor Torp resulted in a like-for-like substitution in the 58th minute as Mark Robins continues to be short on numbers and options in the middle of the park at the business end of the season

Robins doesn’t have the biggest squad to call upon during a hectic run of fixtures in the league and cup. The Sky Blues can ill afford to lose influential players at a time when they are attempting to keep pace with their rivals, with nine games left to secure a spot in the Championship’s top six.

Here we look at Coventry ’s casualty list, including what’s been said and their expected return dates.

What’s been said?

“Torpy has pulled something in his glute, so I hope that he is okay but I don’t know yet. But he needs a breather again, so the fact that Ben is back gives us more, and the fact that Kels (Liam Kelly) played half a game means he’s fresh. I think at this stage of the season people look leggy.

“It was brilliant to have Ben Sheaf on the bench to come on and do what he did because if we didn’t have him available we’d have been struggling, so thankfully him and the medical team have worked hard to get to this point.””

Expected return date: Unknown at this point.

Jamie Allen
What’s he done?

The midfielder suffered a fractured cheekbone following a challenge by Sheffield Wednesday defender Di’Shon Bernard in the FA Cup fourth round replay at the CBS Arena, in which the Sky Blues thrashed the Owls 4-1 to book their place in the fifth round against Maidstone United. He had surgery a few days later to have titanium plates fitted in his cheekbone, which Robins described as “horrific”. The timescale was set at six weeks from operation to being back on the pitch.

What’s been said?

“Jamie is back on the grass,” said Robins, providing an update last week. “We are now hopeful that we can get him back over the international break.”

Expected return date: March 25, building into Huddersfield away on Good Friday (March 29).

Tatsuhiro Sakamoto

What’s he done?

The popular winger suffered a serious back injury in the 3-0 defeat by Preston North End when he went up for a header and landed heavily.

What’s been said?

“He will miss the rest of the season,” said Robins. “I am not going to go into a lot of detail because it’s a private matter and I will speak to you further down the line once I have spoken to Tatsu. But, ultimately, he has a bad back injury and has to recover.

“He’s out of hospital and back home and had scans. He’s had another scan and he’s not in a good way. He’s going to recover but it’s going to take time. Unfortunately for him he’s in quite a lot of pain, so I hope that subsides quickly.

“He’s been brilliant and he needed a rest, there is no doubt because when you come into English football with games every five minutes they aren’t used to it. He was crying out for a breather and I couldn’t give it to him, and it contributed to it. If you are not thinking straight, the fatigue was there and it clouds your judgement. I’m really sad for him and really sad for us.”

Expected return date: Pre-season