Coventry City boss provides fresh update on 'horrendous' injury situation ahead of Leeds United clash

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Leeds United welcome Coventry City to Elland Road on Saturday.

Coventry City look set to remain without summer signing Raphael Borges Rodrigues for Saturday’s trip to Leeds United with manager Mark Robins admitting recovery progress is slow.

Raphael joined Coventry from Australian A League outfit Macarthur FC in the summer but is yet to play a competitive game for his new club, having suffered a thigh strain in pre-season. The 21-year-old has slowly been working his way back into training but cannot be rushed, due to the nature of his injury.

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The winger might have been due a start by now if he was fit, with Coventry not fully firing in attack, but Robins has warned against rushing the Australian youth international back. Raphael is expected to miss Saturday’s trip to Elland Road.

“There’s progress but it’s very slow going,” Robins told Coventry Live of his summer signing. “The difficulty is that it is not an exact science. You can push people too hard and they can break down. The medical and sports science department are treating him with kid gloves and hoping that they don’t break him, on the understanding he’s getting stronger.

“We have just got to be careful with him. While it’s disappointing, it must be horrendous for him and really frustrating because he came here looking to hit the ground running.

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“He’s a good player with a lot of really good attributes there, so he could be a really exciting addition. But obviously, it’s going to take a little bit more time than we expected, or anticipated. We have just got to accept it.”

Robins will also be sweating on the fitness of Jamie Allen for Saturday’s game, having seen the midfielder limp off during the first-half of last weekend’s 2-1 defeat against Swansea City. The Coventry boss revealed after full-time that it was a knee ligament injury and so the 29-year-old is a major doubt for the trip to Elland Road.

It could leave the Sky Blues with just two fully-fit senior midfielders in Josh Eccles and Victor Torp, while Ben Sheaf is still building fitness after a pre-season ankle injury. Coventry sit 19th in the league as things stand with just one win from their opening six games.

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