Coventry City manager Mark Robins has confirmed that wing-back Fankaty Dabo's season is basically over after tearing his hamstring.

The 25-year-old has been a revelation for the Sky Blues since arriving at the club in 2019, having come through Chelsea's academy and played at Swindon, Vitesse and Sparta Rotterdam on loan.

Dabo is a key player in Robins' wing-back system - he has a lot of pace to shift up and down the right flank but and he appeared 32 times in Cov's League One-winning season in 2019/20 before the campaign was curtailed.

He's suffered a few setbacks though this season that have kept him out for a number of games - Dabo missed five games in the early part of the season due to an undisclosed injury and then in January he suffered medial ligament damage against Sheffield Wednesday.

That was an injury that kept him out for a month, but Dabo returned and started the last six games, only to hobble off against Wycombe Wanderers last weekend.

A diagnosis has now been confirmed and Cov fans will likely not see Dabo for the rest of the season due to the latest setback.

 

 

 

 

“Fankaty Dabo has got a hamstring tear that will probably keep him out for a month, so that’s as near as the end of the season," said Robins, per the club's official website.

“He’s opened up and unfortunately torn his hamstring which is a blow for him and for us but now gives other people opportunities.”

The Verdict

Considering the Sky Blues are still in a relegation battle, this is a big blow to their survival hopes, especially with Rotherham in 22nd position having four games in hand.

Robins has a replacement to choose in Julien Da Costa, who is probably not of the same quality as Dabo but has shows glimpses of what he can do when he replaced Dabo during the month of February.

Everyone will have to step up in the Sky Blues team to secure a second season in the Championship, but Robins will need no more key players to get injured as that would really harm their chances.