COVENTRY City caretaker boss Richard shaw is hoping midfielder adam Barton will be allowed to cut short his international duty to play against stevenage at the Ricoh arena tomorrow.
The Sky Blues midfielder has been away with the Irish Under-21s who are due to play Italy on Monday. But after losing their match against Hungary on Thursday they cannot qualify for the UEFA Championship finals and Shaw is hoping the Football Association of Ireland will release him early to enable him to play for his club.
“There's a chance he could be back for the game,“ confirmed Shaw.
“I spoke to Adam from Hungary on Thursday night and we are waiting to find out from the FAI if he can be available. We're waiting for confirmation from them to see if he will be used against Italy or whether they are prepared to let him come back and throw a few youngsters in. We're just waiting to see what happens.“
Shaw is keen for the impressive summer signing from Preston to rejoin the team after missing Tuesday night's Johnstone's Paint Trophy tie as City go looking for their first League One win of the season.
“It's important we get it but I don't want to put the players under any more pressure than they are under anyway,“ said the 43-year-old coach.
“I think everyone is looking for us to get a result and get a monkey off our back as such, and a good performance as well.
“We are looking forward to the game. It's on TV at the Ricoh and it's games like these that can turn your season around.
“There is an expectation that we'll just go out and turn teams over but I keep saying it is not going to be easy and we have seen that with Norwich, Leeds, Forest, Southampton, there is no divine right to win games.
“We are a big club in terms of where we have been in recent years in the Premiership but we've got no divine right to just turn up on the pitch and win games.
“That comes with hard work, desire and commitment, and that's where we have got to get to.
“There is a lot of negativity about the place at the moment but there are a lot of positives to take from our performances. It's obviously disappointing that we haven't managed to get three points yet and I am not naive enough to know that there have been unacceptable periods to our play.
“The injury situation is not ideal at the moment and we are a new side who are finding their feet but winning breeds confidence and if we had won one of those opening games I think we would have seen a different set of lads because I think they have been a bit anxious to get that first win.“
Shaw could certainly do with a victory and uplifting display to boost his chances of getting the full-time manager's job but he said: “I am not worried about myself. I am more interested in the football club and getting some results and moving up the table. “We are just trying to work as hard as we can with the players because we know how good they are and it's just frustrating that it's a fact of trying to get that out of them.“
The Sky Blues midfielder has been away with the Irish Under-21s who are due to play Italy on Monday. But after losing their match against Hungary on Thursday they cannot qualify for the UEFA Championship finals and Shaw is hoping the Football Association of Ireland will release him early to enable him to play for his club.
“There's a chance he could be back for the game,“ confirmed Shaw.
“I spoke to Adam from Hungary on Thursday night and we are waiting to find out from the FAI if he can be available. We're waiting for confirmation from them to see if he will be used against Italy or whether they are prepared to let him come back and throw a few youngsters in. We're just waiting to see what happens.“
Shaw is keen for the impressive summer signing from Preston to rejoin the team after missing Tuesday night's Johnstone's Paint Trophy tie as City go looking for their first League One win of the season.
“It's important we get it but I don't want to put the players under any more pressure than they are under anyway,“ said the 43-year-old coach.
“I think everyone is looking for us to get a result and get a monkey off our back as such, and a good performance as well.
“We are looking forward to the game. It's on TV at the Ricoh and it's games like these that can turn your season around.
“There is an expectation that we'll just go out and turn teams over but I keep saying it is not going to be easy and we have seen that with Norwich, Leeds, Forest, Southampton, there is no divine right to win games.
“We are a big club in terms of where we have been in recent years in the Premiership but we've got no divine right to just turn up on the pitch and win games.
“That comes with hard work, desire and commitment, and that's where we have got to get to.
“There is a lot of negativity about the place at the moment but there are a lot of positives to take from our performances. It's obviously disappointing that we haven't managed to get three points yet and I am not naive enough to know that there have been unacceptable periods to our play.
“The injury situation is not ideal at the moment and we are a new side who are finding their feet but winning breeds confidence and if we had won one of those opening games I think we would have seen a different set of lads because I think they have been a bit anxious to get that first win.“
Shaw could certainly do with a victory and uplifting display to boost his chances of getting the full-time manager's job but he said: “I am not worried about myself. I am more interested in the football club and getting some results and moving up the table. “We are just trying to work as hard as we can with the players because we know how good they are and it's just frustrating that it's a fact of trying to get that out of them.“
