"Out of the blue" - Coventry City: Mark Robins explains Ellis Simms absence v Middlesbrough | OneFootball

The multi-million pound striker missed his first league game of the season on Saturday.

Coventry City boss Mark Robins has explained why Ellis Simms was absent from the matchday squad to face Middlesbrough on Saturday.

The Sky Blues experienced the sweet feeling of successive league victories for the first time since late March. It's been a tough six or seven months for the club since that last double-win run.

The loss in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, the plummeting of their league form, missing out on the play-offs; things certainly could have gone better.

2024/25 started in the same way that the previous campaign had started and ended: with frustration. Coventry opened up with two wins in their first 11 games, and were hovering near the relegation zone.

Finally, though, Robins' team has begun to look the way that it can be, and that was once again proven with a win away at Middlesbrough. The manager felt that the last-minute victory over Luton Town last weekend had given all the players the boost that they needed. That theory was proven to be correct.

With a helping hand from Hayden Hackney's red card, City cruised to a 3-0 triumph over their former play-off rivals of two seasons ago, at the Riverside stadium, where they beat Boro to secure their place in the final at Wembley.

And they got that result without the help of Simms, 23, who, Robins revealed, was out due to an injury.

Mark Robins explains Ellis Simms' absence v Middlesbrough

The former Everton striker had a foot issue that forced him to rule himself out of contention for the match, according to Robins. Simms' injury seemed to develop overnight after taking a whack during the week.

The Coventry boss explained, via Coventry Live: "He got up this morning and felt he couldn’t play. He’s got a problem with his foot.

"Hopefully it’s not anything serious. It’s just something that came out of the blue really. I think he had an impact in training on Friday and got up on Saturday morning and felt it was too sore."

Simms, who Coventry paid £6-8 million for in the summer of 2023, was replaced in the starting XI by the striker that City purchased this summer, Brandon Thomas-Asante. It was the first Championship match of the season that he wasn't involved in.

The ex-West Bromwich Albion forward has scored one less (one) than Simms has this season (two) even though the 23-year-old has started three more games (eight) than his Ghanaian teammate (eight).

Ellis Simms finding form could be key to Coventry climbing the table

City's best run of last season was inspired by a couple of things. The return to fitness of now Sheffield United midfielder Callum O'Hare certainly provided a spark to the team, but Simms finding his feet in his new sky blue colours was definitely another propeller for them.

He really started to find form not long after the new year, netting 16 goals in all competitions between the start of 2024 and the end of the last campaign.

Coventry currently sit 13th in the table, but are only six points off of the play-off spots, and only four points behind the teams who are just outside the top six.

Once Simms is back fit - whether he will be in time to face Derby County on Wednesday remains a question - he could really project them up the table if he comes back with the same form that he did in the latter half of last season.