“Different class” - Ally McCoist piles praise on Coventry City man and fires Man United FA Cup warning | OneFootball

Coventry City have an action-packed end to the season coming up, and the emergence of summer signing Ellis Simms will certainly help their end-of-season run.

Life at Coventry, at the start, wasn't easy for the now 23-year-old. The club signed him from Everton in a deal that is thought to be worth between £6-8 million, according to the Liverpool Echo. Four goals in two pre-season friendlies against League Two sides Forest Green Rovers and MK Dons had fans excited, but it would be another two months after the latter match until he got his first goal for the club.

His shooting boots appeared to be back at Merseyside, and faith in him was slowly being lost. But the last eight matches have helped to restore that faith. He's scored 10 goals in those matches, including two hat-tricks. In his last outing, he scored twice and assisted the winner to help his side complete a late comeback against Wolves in the FA Cup quarter-final. City will now face Manchester United in the semi-final, at Wembley, in less than a month.

Former striker Ally McCoist watched that FA Cup match, and speaking to Football League World on behalf of talkSPORT BET has given his verdict on the young forward.

Ally McCoist gives Ellis Simms verdict

McCoist said that the former Everton man's performance in the quarter-final caught his eye.

"I tell you what, I was impressed," said the talkSPORT pundit. "He had a miss in the first half which, to be fair to him, probably wouldn't have counted because I think another player was offside. He should have put the ball in the back of the net, but it wouldn't have counted anyway. But I was really keen to observe how he performed after that, and he was a different class. He got himself in a position to score, which he clearly did, and he took up really good positions.

"I thought that Coventry knocked the ball about really well, and, I'll tell you something, Man United are going to have to be on their game because Coventry will give them a game, there's no doubt about it. They're really solid at the back, a solid enough goalkeeper, and a bit of creativity in the middle of the park, and, of course, Hajji Wright and Simms up top.

"I saw Simms when he was on loan up at Hearts, as well, and I thought that there was something about him, and it would not surprise me in the slightest if he kicked on again, and, no disrespect to Coventry, got another move."

Ellis Simms' late-season turnaround vindicated Coventry decision

The Sky Blues received a lot of money over the summer from player sales that they will have been able to reinvest into their squad. Viktor Gyokeres was bought by Sporting Lisbon for close to £20 million, as per the BBC, and Gustavo Hamer made the switch to newly promoted Sheffield United, who paid £15 million, as per Mike McGrath of The Telegraph, for the man who scored in the play-off final for City.

Simms, initially, didn't hit the ground running, and, with the money at their disposal, that's what Coventry should have been getting.

He wasn't a complete unknown. He had a successful loan stint with Sunderland last season, before being recalled by the Toffees in the January window. That form wasn't carried over into the new campaign though, but that confidence seems to have returned.

The striker is now second best in his team when it comes to non-penatly goals and non-penalty xG per 90, as well as chance creating carries, as per The Analyst.

Even with these elevated performance levels, he isn't bulletproof; he could well go through another sticky spell like the one he endured at the start of the campaign. But these last eight games show the potential that he has at his feet, and it justifies the club's decision to go with him.