After Coventry City’s return, Mark Robins gives Callum O’Hare verdict.

Mark Robins welcomed a key player back into the Coventry City starting lineup for Saturday’s loss to Ipswich Town.

O’Hare last appeared for the Sky Blues in a 3-1 loss to Sheffield United in December 2022.

He hasn’t played for the club in almost a year, but he played 73 minutes against promotion-chasing Ipswich Town on Saturday before being replaced by Jay Dasilva.

Coventry were eventually defeated 2-1 by the Tractor Boys, who are currently second in the Championship table, but O’Hare’s return is a positive for fans to take away from the defeat.

Prior to his injury problems, the 25-year-old was a key figure for Robins’ side, and many will be hoping he can regain that level of influence once he is fully recovered.

What did Mark Robins think of Callum O’Hare’s return to Coventry?

Robins was pleased with the midfielder’s performance in Saturday’s loss to Kieran McKenna’s side.

However, he stated that it will take time for him to regain full fitness because it has been 12 months since he last started a game consistently.

“I thought he did OK, thought he did all right but it’s going to take a while for his levels because it’s almost 12 months since he did the injury, so it will take time to hit those levels,” said Robins, via Coventry Live.

“But I think to get through 70 plus minutes today, he did well to do that.

 

 

“He’s been working hard and he got into some decent positions.

“In the second half we started to pass the ball better and move it into more dangerous areas as well, so he was contributing to that.

 

“And then I took him off to try to get more energy onto the pitch as well as give him a breather because he’d done his 70 minutes really, and anything over that and you start to tip over a little bit.

“But I thought he did OK.”

Following their defeat at Portman Road on Saturday, Coventry are 17th in the Championship table.

The Sky Blues will be aiming for another top-six finish after finishing fifth last season. However, the difference between the play-off spots is now eight points after 19 games.

The return of O’Hare will help their promotion chances, but it may be a few weeks before he is fully back up to speed.

Coventry City will play Birmingham City at home on December 8th.

How important is Callum O’Hare to Coventry City?

O’Hare had five goals and eight assists in his last injury-free season, in which he also appeared 45 times.

A midfielder who can contribute this much in attack will be a valuable asset at this level.

If he can regain that level of performance, it will be a huge boost for Robins’ team, who require an extra attacking edge to compete at the top of the table.

However, Robins must be patient in getting O’Hare back to full speed, as another injury would be disastrous.

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