Coventry City has to utilize Kelly in the midfield more to keep up with the play-offs

Coventry City’s aspirations of making it to the play-offs have encountered several setbacks in recent weeks. Aside from their disappointing performance against Preston last Friday, injuries to key players like Ben Sheaf, Jamie Allen, and now Tatsuhiro Sakamoto have left Mark Robins’ squad severely depleted, particularly in midfield and on the right wing. The minor calf tear suffered by Victor Torp at Stoke only added to their concerns.

Fortunately, Torp, who was signed in January, has made a swift recovery, easing worries in midfield. He made a late appearance against North End and managed almost 70 minutes against Maidstone in the FA Cup on Monday night. Interestingly, Liam Kelly, who is considered one of City’s most specialized and skilled central midfielders, has been overlooked for several months.

Josh Eccles had been preferred over the team’s captain, Kelly, to partner with Sheaf before Torp’s arrival. Like many young players, Eccles tends to have inconsistent performances as he strives for stability. However, there’s a growing sentiment that nurturing homegrown talent like Eccles with significant playing time is more beneficial than blocking his progress with an experienced player who is in his final year at the club.

Joel Latibeaudiere, a Jamaican international who was brought in as a center-half and has frequently covered at right-back, has also been favored on occasion and performed admirably, not least in the hard-fought 1-1 draw at Leeds United. That’s a useful attribute that will undoubtedly be used a couple more times in the campaign’s last 12 Championship games. Sakamoto will likely be used more frequently at the back now that he is out for the duration of the season, allowing Milan van Ewijk to push forward, just as he did on Monday night when City altered tactics midway through the second half.

Fabio Tavares has been given the chance to play right wing, but he is still developing in that role. He appears much more at ease and productive when he plays more centrally, as demonstrated by his two goals in the FA Cup, which he scored with Matty Godden late in the fifth round match. It’s also likely that Robins may mix and match a little more in the upcoming games due to a lack of options and numbers.

However, Kelly’s middle position is the only one where a round peg fits into a round hole. He proved once again on Monday night that he still has a lot to offer the squad. He was excellent towards the conclusion of the previous season when he entered to support the play-off drive and earned a new one-year deal in the process.

“He did well,” admitted Robins, reflecting on the 34-year-old’s first start since October, and only his 12th appearance of the season. “He was complaining of cramp in the end but that’s only to be expected. I just said to him that I had no more substitutes and to get on with it, and he did, and thankfully he got through it because he has been out for a while. So it was good to see him back on the pitch, really.”

Kelly’s main task will be to avoid injuries, but if he succeeds in doing so, he will undoubtedly need to play more in the closing stages. He has a lot to give, including leadership, experience, a level of passing proficiency, positional awareness, composure, and work rate. Additionally, he can pick a good forward pass or ball, as demonstrated in the cup game when he helped set up four of the five goals. Naturally, that was against a non-league team, but as we all know, Kels is more than adequate at this level, and there are still plenty of wonderful songs to be played on a “old” fiddle.