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MARLON King looks set to spearhead the Coventry City attack in tomorrow’s home match against Doncaster Rovers.
The striker had to settle for a place on the substitutes bench when he was finally handed his much-delayed debut in Saturday’s shock 2-1 defeat against bottom club Preston.
And having made a highly-impressive impact – going desperately close to salvaging a point when his close-range shot was controversially cleared off the line – Aidy Boothroyd dropped a heavy hint that he will now be upgraded to the starting line-up.
The striker had to settle for a place on the substitutes bench when he was finally handed his much-delayed debut in Saturday’s shock 2-1 defeat against bottom club Preston.
And having made a highly-impressive impact – going desperately close to salvaging a point when his close-range shot was controversially cleared off the line – Aidy Boothroyd dropped a heavy hint that he will now be upgraded to the starting line-up.
I was tempted to start with him,” admitted the City boss, “because he has looked electric in training.
“But Clive Platt and Lukas Jutkiewicz did really well at Bristol so I thought I’d stick with that and hopefully send Marlon on when we were two or three goals up.
"Sadly it didn’t work out like that because although it was one of the most one-sided games I’ve been involved in as a player or a coach, we managed to lose it.
“But that’s football – just when you think you’re doing well, it kicks you in the teeth.”
“But Clive Platt and Lukas Jutkiewicz did really well at Bristol so I thought I’d stick with that and hopefully send Marlon on when we were two or three goals up.
"Sadly it didn’t work out like that because although it was one of the most one-sided games I’ve been involved in as a player or a coach, we managed to lose it.
“But that’s football – just when you think you’re doing well, it kicks you in the teeth.”
King received a rousing ovation from the City fans when his name was announced at the start of the game and when he replaced Carl Baker eight minutes into the second half.
“The crowd responded to him really well,” said Boothroyd.
“I didn’t expect anything else but it was nice.
“When you make a controversial signing, people will have their own opinions and they can be very vociferous about them.
“I’m not disrespecting anybody’s views.
"But I made that decision with the backing of the chairman and everybody concerned at the club, and I think Marlon will continue to get that sort of reception because the vast majority of the people of Coventry are very fair and understanding.
“They want their team to win and they’re ready to give a bloke a chance – and I think that’s all that anybody can ask.
“I know the player and I know the person and he will be a very good signing. – there will come a time when the Ricoh Arena is a difficult place to get in because we’re doing so well, and Marlon will be part of that.
"He’s very focused, very much looking forward to playing a key part in what we’re building here, and he’s certainly given himself a good chance of starting on Tuesday.”
King was denied a debut goal when Billy Jones blocked his close-range blast on the line but the referee rejected City’s furious demands for a penalty.
“I thought it was handball
and having seen it on replay I still think that,” said Boothroyd.
He did the chicken dance on the line and the ball hit him on his arm but because it was up near his biceps rather than the palm of the hand, the referee gave him the benefit of the doubt.
“But it’s not my style to complain about referees; he got it wrong but he didn’t do it on purpose and that happens.
"I focus on our game and we know we can be a lot better.
“We gave ourselves a mountain to climb by conceding two really poor goals, the second one when we went chasing and lost our shape a minute before half-time when the professional thing to have done would have been to see out the half, go in 1-0 down and work on a lot of positives.
“Even then, we had more than enough chances to win that game, but you have to give Preston credit for hanging on.
"And Andy Lonergan was superb –at one point I thought there must have been three of four of him in that goal, because he was stopping everything.
“The players are more irritated and annoyed with themselves than upset because they know that they’ve let three points slip away.
“But we’ll take it on the chin. I didn’t get over-excited at Bristol City and I’m not going to get too worried now because I’ve seen enough to know that once we put all the pieces together, we’ll be a formidable outfit.
“The crowd responded to him really well,” said Boothroyd.
“I didn’t expect anything else but it was nice.
“When you make a controversial signing, people will have their own opinions and they can be very vociferous about them.
“I’m not disrespecting anybody’s views.
"But I made that decision with the backing of the chairman and everybody concerned at the club, and I think Marlon will continue to get that sort of reception because the vast majority of the people of Coventry are very fair and understanding.
“They want their team to win and they’re ready to give a bloke a chance – and I think that’s all that anybody can ask.
“I know the player and I know the person and he will be a very good signing. – there will come a time when the Ricoh Arena is a difficult place to get in because we’re doing so well, and Marlon will be part of that.
"He’s very focused, very much looking forward to playing a key part in what we’re building here, and he’s certainly given himself a good chance of starting on Tuesday.”
King was denied a debut goal when Billy Jones blocked his close-range blast on the line but the referee rejected City’s furious demands for a penalty.
“I thought it was handball
and having seen it on replay I still think that,” said Boothroyd.
He did the chicken dance on the line and the ball hit him on his arm but because it was up near his biceps rather than the palm of the hand, the referee gave him the benefit of the doubt.
“But it’s not my style to complain about referees; he got it wrong but he didn’t do it on purpose and that happens.
"I focus on our game and we know we can be a lot better.
“We gave ourselves a mountain to climb by conceding two really poor goals, the second one when we went chasing and lost our shape a minute before half-time when the professional thing to have done would have been to see out the half, go in 1-0 down and work on a lot of positives.
“Even then, we had more than enough chances to win that game, but you have to give Preston credit for hanging on.
"And Andy Lonergan was superb –at one point I thought there must have been three of four of him in that goal, because he was stopping everything.
“The players are more irritated and annoyed with themselves than upset because they know that they’ve let three points slip away.
“But we’ll take it on the chin. I didn’t get over-excited at Bristol City and I’m not going to get too worried now because I’ve seen enough to know that once we put all the pieces together, we’ll be a formidable outfit.
“We did a lot of good things on Saturday and you could tell that by the response of the crowd at the end.
"They’re happy if their team is having a go and I promise them we’ll always do that.”
"They’re happy if their team is having a go and I promise them we’ll always do that.”