Mark Robins reveals nervous wait after latest Coventry City injury blow | OneFootball

Highlights

With upward ambitions following last season's crushing play-off final defeat at the hands of Luton Town and, of course, the transfer kitty from the Viktor Gyokeres sale, it's fair to say that Coventry City were busy throughout the summer window.

The Sporting Lisbon frontman netted the Sky Blues a reported £20.5m figure after his exploits in the previous campaign, in which he scored 21 times and provided a further 10 to guide Coventry to within touching distance of the Premier League for the first time in over 20 years.

Some clubs at this level sit upon sums of this magnitude or choose to utilise it in order to level out debts away from the field, but Coventry instead decided to make a splash by welcoming 11 fresh faces to the West Midlands, many of whom arrived as exciting, but nonetheless fairly-costly acquisitions.

That is applicable for Dutch wing-back Milan van Ewijk, who was an ever-present in the Eredivisie for Heerenveen for the previous three campaigns prior to joining Coventry in a £3.4m deal at the back-end of July.

How has Milan van Ewijk performed for Coventry City so far?

Van Ewijk hasn't taken much time to get going, having started six of his side's opening seven matches.

In that time, he's been defensively solid by winning nine tackles and six interceptions, while his potency at the other end of the pitch was showcased by scoring a free-kick in the thrilling 3-3 draw with Watford.

However, it now appears as though he will be on the sidelines for quite some time.

Van Ewijk was hauled off not long into the second half of Coventry's 3-2 loss away at Cardiff City on Tuesday evening with a muscle injury, which immediately prompted concern from fans and club officials alike.

Such concern has now been vindicated with a recent update from Mark Robins, confirming initial fears as another players is added to the injury list.

Speaking to the media this morning, Robins gave an unfortunate update on the 23-year-old ahead of Monday night's showdown at home to Huddersfield Town.

While he did emphasise that he is yet to receive a timeline on van Ewijk's unavailability and now faces a nervous wait but it's still been stressed that the initial signs don't bode well.

"We don't know how long he is going to be out for and he is not showing many symptoms, but the scan suggests he has a significant tear in his quad.

"We are still waiting for that report to be read by the radiologist but it does not look good."

All things considered, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto - who also joined over the summer - feels like the natural replacement.

He's had to bide his time due to van Ewijk thus far, starting just once this term, but he did come on in his place in the Welsh capital which provokes the feeling that he will be entrusted in the right wing-back berth moving forward.

Alternatively, Joel Latibeaudiere could also be an option having played there for Swansea City, but Sakamoto looks a more sensible option.