Bournemouth’s on loan striker Lee Barnard has told the Cherries website that the players are fully focused on Saturday’s game at The Ricoh Arena in Coventry.
Like Coventry City, Bournemouth have not had the best of start to their season and just like Coventry, they sacked their manager Paul Groves and his assistant Shaun Brookes as a result.
Barnard is looking for a win at Coventry as a way to lift spirits and to climb away from the danger zone.
Barnard told afcb.co.uk: “With Paul and Shaun going it has been a bit strange, but that’s the nature of football and these things happen.
“I owe them a lot because they brought me to the club and I wish them the best, but we have another game on Saturday and we need to concentrate on that.
“It’s a big game. Coventry is a big club and should probably be in a higher division. They have had a slow start but they have picked up, and it will be a tough game for us. But we are focused and we know what we have to do.”
Barnard is on loan at Bournemouth from fellow south coasters Southampton and he returned to the side last weekend after missing two games through injury. He scored his third goal of the season at Crawley on Tuesday and is now hoping to get more starts and goals under his belt.
He admitted his injury layoff affected his fitness and performance and said, “I felt a bit leggy after missing a couple of weeks and then coming straight back in and playing 90 minutes twice in a few days.
“I don’t feel as sharp as I would like but I felt much better at Crawley, got a goal and hopefully I can push on now.
“As a striker you are judged on goals and it will be good for me if I can keep scoring, but the main aim for us is to win games and, hopefully, I can help us do that.”