Last updated : 19 October 2010 By Covsupport News Service
With the potential and imminent return to Coventry of former player Craig Bellamy for tonights high profile clash with Cardiff City, the Sky Blues captain Lee Carsley has said that Bellamy will thrive in the hostile atmosphere and that he has a point to prove to Coventry fans.
It is almost certain that Bellamy will receive boos and verbal abuse from large sections of the Coventry support because of his conduct while he was at the club and for comments he made when he left after their relegation from the Premier League.
The current club captain Lee Carsley was at Coventry City at the same time as Bellamy, as well as Bellamy's strike partner at Cardiff Jay Bothroyd, and he thinks that Bellamy has helped Cardiff improve.
Carsley (Pictured above) said to the CT: "He's rejuvenated the club. I was at Coventry with Craig first time round and I am sure he will have a point to prove."
"It is fair to say he didn't have a great time here but he went on and on after he left. He is a very good player. He showed glimpses of it when he was here but it is the consistency in his game now because he is eight out of ten most weeks."
Unlike Bellamy, Bothroyd has been back to Coventry since he left the club and he usually get a few boos, but he thinks both he and Bellamy will thrive in a the hostile environment of The Ricoh.
Bothroyd, won won the Covsupport News Service Young Player Of The Year Award during his time at Highfield Road said: "I always seem to get stick at Coventry, but that's fine. It will probably be the same with Bellers, but it won't bother us."
Bothroyd is in fine form this season and has scored eight goals for the Bluebirds and will pose a significant threat to the Coventry defence.
"We will focus on playing football. If anything, the boos will make me want to prove them wrong. Bellers and I will be playing with a smile on our faces."
"Craig's career went totally different to mine, obviously. Mine was a bit slower, I took a while to mature and to understand what needed to be done for me to show my full potential consistently.
"Since I've come here, I've done that. Craig's a great person to play with, an intelligent footballer and he's got great pace.
It's been a decent start, I'm happy I've scored a few goals. We're second in the table and doing well as a side without really hitting our peak.
"The last few games we've done well, we've ground out good results and hopefully we can take it into the next game."
Bellamy joined Coventry City from Norwich in 2000, but did not make much of an impact,partially because he was still recovering from a cruciate knee ligament injury, an injury which still blights his career and the reason why he cannot play more than once a week.
Lee Carsley came to the defence of Bellamy and explained, "People always say it takes nine or ten months to get your fitness back after such a big operation, and as soon as he went to Newcastle he took off,"
"I got on with him. He's a good lad and I saw him a couple of times when he was at Liverpool and I was on the other side. I wouldn't say we were friends, but he's all right."
Responding to questions about the reception Bellamy can expect at The Ricoh, Carsley said, "There is always a lot of attention on him wherever he goes because he is a good player, but we won't approach the Cardiff game any different to say the Doncaster or Preston games."
It will be part of Carsley's job tonight to mark Bellamy and to prevent him from playing a significant role for Cardiff, but the City skipper quipped, "I'd have to catch him first!"
Picture copyright of Covsupport News Service. Credit CNS/IW
