Coventry City manager Mark Robins is keeping quiet about his team selection for tomorrows FA Cup first round game with Arlesley Town at The Ricoh Arena.
With several players on loan at Coventry who may be denied permission by their parent clubs to play in the FA Cup because they don’t want their players cup tied, Robins faces a selection headache.
Striker David McGoldrick has been widely reported as told he can’t play, but Robins has been in discussions with Nottingham Forest in an attempt to change their mind but as Sean O’Driscoll looks set to offload McGoldrick in the January transfer window, his value may drop if he is cup tied.
Derby County look set to deny permission for central defender James Bailey, who is on a three month loan deal, to play, but Callum Ball, also on loan from Derby will be eligible as he is on a season long loan.
Robins has not confirmed or denied whether he has been granted permission to field any or all of his on loan players. Jamie Reckord, on loan from Wolves is another defender who may miss the game.
Although he won’t reveal too much about who will or won’t play on Saturday, Robins did say, "I am still asking one or two questions so some will play and some won’t. As far as names are concerned I’m not going to give you names because that would be doing Arlesey’s job for them.
"We’re trying to get permission from the clubs to give us as many options as possible but whatever team I put out we want to win through, and it will be one that I feel will go and get us a result. It’s an interesting game for us and we’ll certainly approach it in the right way.
"We have to make sure we’re on our mettle because we don’t want to be a banana skin."
If as seems likely, McGoldrick does not play, it will give Cody McDonald an opportunity to start a game. Should Bailey be denied permission to play his likely replacement would be Franck Moussa who would partner Jennings in the midfield.
A coy Robins said to the CT's Alan Poole: "You’ll have to watch this space but whatever happens there’s a chance for someone because some will play and some will miss out. If you turn up and think you’re expected to win you can come a cropper, so we have to play the way we know we can do.
"No way am I going to underestimate the threat of Arlesey because they will come here and have a right good go. You always have a chance of drawing a club that is less heard of and that’s the so-called magic of it. You can be pitting your wits against teams from lower divisions or higher divisions, against older players and those who are younger and new to it, so it really is the best cup competition."
Arlesey are an unknown quantity to Robins so he went to watch them play, but the Arlesey Town manager Zema Abbey selected a hugely changed side from the one likely to play at The Ricoh.
Robins explained: “I say half a game because half the team were rested. I have managed to see 18 of their players because I had them watched on Sunday, so we’ve seen a fair bit of them. They have got one or two players with league experience so they will know what it’s all about so we have to be right on the day and we certainly want to progress in the competition. We’ll take any win but I’d like to do it in the right manner and do a thoroughly professional job."
More on this: http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/coventry-city-fc/coventry-city-fc-news/2012/11/02/92746-32151154/?