The striker was a big loss for the Sky Blues in the summer
- Coventry City suffered a devastating defeat in the play-off final, missing out on promotion to the Premier League.
- Following the departure of key player Viktor Gyokeres, Coventry invested in two new strikers to fill the void in attack.
- Ellis Simms and Haji Wright scored crucial goals in recent matches, securing six points for Coventry and proving their worth to the club
The 2022/23 Championship season ended in perhaps the most agonising circumstances possible for Coventry City.
A penalty shootout defeat to Luton Town in the play-off final at Wembley, meant that the Sky Blues missed out on promotion back to the Premier League with the very last kick of the campaign.
As a result, having not been able to secure top-flight for the following campaign, Coventry then saw several key players move on over the course of the summer transfer window.
One of those who headed for pastures new was centre forward Viktor Gyokeres, who joined Portuguese giants Sporting CP for a reported £20million fee.
Given the fact that Gyokeres scored 38 Championship goals during his two full seasons with the Sky Blues, there was no escaping the need for the club to go out and fill the void in attack left by his departure, with some of the funds brought in from his departure.
By the time the market had closed, there was also no denying the fact that club owner Doug King had made spent the money needed to fill that void at the CBS Arena, on paper at least.
How did Coventry invest in their attack following Gyokeres’ exit?
By the time the market had closed at the start of September, the Sky Blues had brought in two new centre forwards, to help lead the line in the absence of Gyokeres.
The first of those signings was Ellis Simms, who joined from Everton for a fee said to be in the region of £6-8million, after enjoying an impressive loan spell in the Championship with Sunderland during the first-half of last season.
That was then followed by the addition of Haji Wright, with the American international arriving from Turkish side Antalyaspor for a club record fee of a €9million.
Given the need for those new signings to deliver the sort of goals Gyokeres had previously provided, both to ensure the Sky Blues are again competitive in the Championship this season, and prove those sizeable fees were money well spent, there will have been a big desire around the club to see the duo succeed in Mark Robins’ side.
As a result, the events of the past week, will no doubt have come as a big relief to those of a Coventry persuasion, with regards to both of those strikers.
Why Simms and Wright’s contributions this week may be vital for Coventry
It is probably fair to say that both Simms and Wright had slow starts to life with the Sky Blues, so many at the club will now be hoping the events of the past few days, can be a turning point.
On Saturday, it was Simms who made a big breakthrough in his Coventry career, when on his tenth appearance for the club, he netted his first goals for Mark Robins’ side, scoring twice to secure a 3-2 win away at Millwall.
Then on Wednesday, it was the turn of Wright to make his mark, as he arrived in the right place at the right time to show just the sort of clinical finishing expected from a centre forward, and net an 85th minute winner for the Sky Blues at home to Blackburn.
With that strike, Wright got on the scoresheet for just the second time in 11 games in his Coventry career, and for the first time since August, so that will no doubt have been a weight off his back as well.
Those goals from Simms and Wright have now secured six points for Coventry in the space of a matter of days, that could prove crucial come the end of the season.
As a result, King is now starting to see the return on his investment he will have wanted, and the fact those goals have proved so important for Coventry in getting those wins, could also give Simms and Wright the confidence they need to push on and make yet more telling contributions to the club in the coming campaign, and indeed beyond.
With all that in mind, the identity of the matchwinners for Coventry in those last two games, means it could be argued that the significance of the wins they have picked up against Millwall and Blackburn this week, could go far beyond just those six very welcome points.
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