"Excuses" - Pundit takes aim at stuttering Coventry City ahead of Leeds United clash | OneFootball

The Sky Blues have won just one of their opening six matches of the Championship season

Football League pundit Ali Maxwell believes questions need to start being asked at Coventry City, as the Sky Blues continue to falter at the start of the season.

Mark Robins’ side went down 2-1 to Swansea City at the weekend, in a result that leaves them with just one win from their opening six matches of the season.

After ending the previous campaign with just one point from the final 18 available, there has been a continued malaise with City as of late, with their only league win of the season coming against Oxford United in their first home match of the campaign.

With so many attacking players at their disposal, Maxwell believes the results should turn around soon for the Midlands outfit, although concerns are starting to be raised as performances continue to be below par.

Ali Maxwell voices Coventry City concerns after Swansea City defeat

After predicting that City would be pushing for an automatic promotion spot before the season began, Not The Top 20 co-host Maxwell has been concerned with what he has seen from the Sky Blues of late.

With six goals in as many games to start the season, Robins will have expected much more from an attacking standpoint so far in the current campaign, with the likes of Haji Wright and Ellis Simms yet to discover their form from the previous 12 months.

First-half goals from Liam Cullen and Oli Cooper put the Swans into an early two-goal lead at the weekend, before an own goal from Ronald halved the deficit ten minutes before the break.

The defeat to the Swans leaves Cov with just five points from six matches as it stands, and Maxwell is getting to the point where he is starting to grow concerns over the former Premier League side.

Speaking on the Not The Top 20 Podcast, he said: “This is an extension of a frustrating start to the Championship season, and there is mitigating circumstances, and there are excuses for it, for sure.

“They played Spurs and did brilliantly in midweek, losing late, and it is not hard to imagine that would be an energy sapping game, and the next game being a home game against Swansea - with a little less of a vibe around the place - might not help with dynamism.

“The excuses are getting a little bit tiring I think, even for themselves, because since beating Leeds on April 6th, Cov have only won one Championship game in 12, and have lost eight of them, obviously straddling the two seasons.

Coventry City need to make the most of attacking players at their disposal

Plenty was expected of Coventry this season, as the Sky Blues kept hold of the majority of a squad that narrowly missed out on the Championship playoffs in the previous campaign, as well as reaching an FA Cup semi-final.

Despite losing playmaker Callum O’Hare to divisional rivals Sheffield United, City still have plenty of attacking threats at their disposal, although they are yet to get the best out of their talents in the final third.

With that in mind, Maxwell is confident results will turn around soon for Robins [pictured] and his playing staff, with goals proving to be elusive at the beginning of the campaign.

The presenter continued: “What I am struck by is that they have so many attacking players now - which was one of the reasons why we were so excited about them in pre-season - they have got Simms and Wright, they have also got [Norman] Bassette who looks quite lively.

“They have [Brandon] Thomas-Asante playing, [Ephron] Mason-Clarke, [Tatsuhiro] Sakamoto, those are six interesting attacking players for their three slots.

“They have got others like [Milan] van Ewijk and [Jack] Rudoni who can contribute to a good attacking team as well, it is just not quite working at the moment.

“I still think they will be OK, and I think it is important to not worry about league position right now, and remember a six-point gap to the play-offs after not many games is very little in reality, although 19th in the league table sounds a bit more dramatic.

“Expectations were raised this season, so just within myself I am treating them a little bit more harshly this season, so I think I would like to see some better results for Coventry over the next few weeks.”