Coventry City: Gordon Strachan makes Viktor Gyokeres claim | OneFootball

Former Coventry City player and manager Gordon Strachan believes ex-striker Viktor Gyokeres has been a huge miss for Mark Robins this season.

It has been nearly five months now since the Sky Blues cashed in on Gyokeres and it's fair to say he was a key player last season, with Gyokeres' enjoying a great start to life with Sporting CP.

The Sky Blues are struggling to get regular goals out of his replacements in the form of Haji Wright and Ellis Simms, whilst the Swede is going from strength to strength with his impressive form for the Portuguese outfit.

A figure of just over £1 million was spent on Gyokeres, and he repaid City in spades with 43 goals and 17 assists in 116 matches in all competitions after an initial loan from Brighton.

By the time the 2022/23 season ended and when Coventry had cruelly been defeated in the Championship play-off final, Gyokeres was always likely to depart alongside fellow star Gustavo Hamer.

That transpired in early July after lengthy negotiations, when Sporting won the battle for the 25-year-old's services, with official documents in November revealing that an initial €20 million (£17.5 million) was paid for the forward, with an extra €4 million (£3.46 million) in potential add-ons.

Gordon Strahcan's Gyokeres and Coventry City claim

Strachan managed Coventry for five years between 1996 and 2001 and believes that the Swedish international striker is the missing piece for Robins this season.

Speaking via BoyleSports, Strachan said: "Gyokeres was worth so much more than just goals to Coventry.

"He could run centre-halves ragged and take them to places they had never been before, hold the ball up and win free-kicks all over the pitch. They had good loans as well last year, which is a bit of a blow as well.

However, in spite of that, Strachan has been hugely impressed with the work Robins has done without him and over the years with Coventry so far. He added: "But Mark Robins is one of those managers that should never ever be criticised or come under pressure for the work he has done at Coventry over a number of years. Coventry should be willing to pay him forever - he has taken them from playing in Northampton to Birmingham to an established Championship side.

"Robins just gets on with it, loses his top players and then cracks on with his job and manages to just keep them ticking over. It is a phenomenal story there and he should be really proud at what he has managed to achieve. The crowds are the best they have been for decades, so it really is a phenomenal job by the manager."

Gyokeres and Mark Robins verdict

Gyokeres was always likely to be a major loss for the Sky Blues, given his phenomenal record last season and leaving the club with huge boots to fill.

However, they have been a side who have remained solid at the back and created a fair number of chances this season, highlighting that composure has been sorely lacking when putting away the ones that come their way in the final third.

As Strachan alludes to, Robins is doing a fantastic job and deserves plenty of plaudits for his work throughout his tenure, including this season.

If Coventry can be a touch more clinical, then they will find themselves in and around the play-offs once again this term.