THORN LOOKS TO GET JENNINGS ON BOARD AT THE RICOH
COVENTRY City launch their season this week with tomorrow's Capital One Cup tie at Dagenham & Redbridge setting the stage for their League One opener at Yeovil on Saturday.
And although Andy Thorn is satisfied that he has assembled a competitive squad and the Sky Blues' preparation is bang on schedule, he is hoping to find the scope for a spot of fine tuning over the next few days.
He saw enough in Steven Jennings's two 45-minute stints at Port Vale and Bristol Rovers to decide that the Liverpudlian midfielder would prove a valuable asset, and he wants another look at Peter Poloskei before deciding whether the Hungarian striker is worth a contract.
“I think Steven has proven his quality,“ said Thorn. “It's taken a lot longer than we thought because of the knock he picked up but I'm sure he could do a good job for us so I hope that something can be sorted out. “It's a bit too early to say about Peter because he didn't really get much of a chance to show us what he's got to offer but we've got a development squad game coming up this week so we'll have another look before we make up our minds.“
City won 2-1 at Bristol Rovers at the weekend ­ their third consecutive away victory against League Two opposition ­ and Thorn declared: “It was a really good exercise for us, a proper, hard-fought game, and just what we wanted for our last pre-season friendly. We played well and scored two terrific goals, and while we were all disappointed with the one we conceded, that's a situation that we can address in training.“
Thorn is particularly delighted that Cody McDonald's Sky Blues career looks set to take off after his stylish double at the Memorial Ground made it four goals in just over two hours of football.
“We've never seen the best of Cody because he hasn't done a pre-season for the past two years,“ said Thorn, “but he will score a lot of goals for us. He was quick and sharp and he showed that when we put a good move together we've got somebody in the middle who can finish it off.“
The striker agreed: “It's more about getting gametime under your belt but it's always nice to get a couple of goals and I felt really good out there ­ I'm fit and raring to go.
“I got great service from chris Hussey and Gary McSheffrey for the two goals and I enjoyed playing with callum Ball because he's great at holding the ball up and creating a bit of space.
“We've got plenty of quality here and with the new arrivals we've got a lot of height in the side now which is very important in this league.“
Thorn didn't attempt to conceal his annoyance that newly-arrived midfielder adam Barton, who turned in an impressive 45-minute stint against Rovers, will miss tomorrow's cup trip because he has been called up by the Republic of Ireland Under-21s.
“Some bright spark decided he's fit for international football when he hasn't played a game for six months which is absolutely incredible,“ said the city boss. “lee carsley put in a phone call because we thought his connections might count for something but apparently it's crucial for adam to be sitting on a bench instead of working with us.“
COVENTRY City launch their season this week with tomorrow's Capital One Cup tie at Dagenham & Redbridge setting the stage for their League One opener at Yeovil on Saturday.
And although Andy Thorn is satisfied that he has assembled a competitive squad and the Sky Blues' preparation is bang on schedule, he is hoping to find the scope for a spot of fine tuning over the next few days.
He saw enough in Steven Jennings's two 45-minute stints at Port Vale and Bristol Rovers to decide that the Liverpudlian midfielder would prove a valuable asset, and he wants another look at Peter Poloskei before deciding whether the Hungarian striker is worth a contract.
“I think Steven has proven his quality,“ said Thorn. “It's taken a lot longer than we thought because of the knock he picked up but I'm sure he could do a good job for us so I hope that something can be sorted out. “It's a bit too early to say about Peter because he didn't really get much of a chance to show us what he's got to offer but we've got a development squad game coming up this week so we'll have another look before we make up our minds.“
City won 2-1 at Bristol Rovers at the weekend ­ their third consecutive away victory against League Two opposition ­ and Thorn declared: “It was a really good exercise for us, a proper, hard-fought game, and just what we wanted for our last pre-season friendly. We played well and scored two terrific goals, and while we were all disappointed with the one we conceded, that's a situation that we can address in training.“
Thorn is particularly delighted that Cody McDonald's Sky Blues career looks set to take off after his stylish double at the Memorial Ground made it four goals in just over two hours of football.
“We've never seen the best of Cody because he hasn't done a pre-season for the past two years,“ said Thorn, “but he will score a lot of goals for us. He was quick and sharp and he showed that when we put a good move together we've got somebody in the middle who can finish it off.“
The striker agreed: “It's more about getting gametime under your belt but it's always nice to get a couple of goals and I felt really good out there ­ I'm fit and raring to go.
“I got great service from chris Hussey and Gary McSheffrey for the two goals and I enjoyed playing with callum Ball because he's great at holding the ball up and creating a bit of space.
“We've got plenty of quality here and with the new arrivals we've got a lot of height in the side now which is very important in this league.“
Thorn didn't attempt to conceal his annoyance that newly-arrived midfielder adam Barton, who turned in an impressive 45-minute stint against Rovers, will miss tomorrow's cup trip because he has been called up by the Republic of Ireland Under-21s.
“Some bright spark decided he's fit for international football when he hasn't played a game for six months which is absolutely incredible,“ said the city boss. “lee carsley put in a phone call because we thought his connections might count for something but apparently it's crucial for adam to be sitting on a bench instead of working with us.“