Having been a player who has often been on the pitch almost solely to plug holes in the team, Josh Eccles is starting to develop increasing confidence in his ability to make telling contributions of his own. It was towards the back end of last season where Eccles showed signs of being able to take that next step up in his development, with a crucial opening goal against Birmingham City during the run-in and a confident penalty at Wembley highlighting Eccles’ growing powers, and that upward trajectory has continued steadily into the new campaign.
It has been Josh Eccles’ tactical intelligence that has provided him the platform to become a first-team regular. Whether it was filling in at right wing-back, which he often did pretty well, or as a holding midfielder whose sole job was to sit in front of the defence, win the ball and give it to more talented players ahead of him, Eccles gained valuable first-team minutes to begin to develop confidence from. While Eccles’ defensive awareness remains his strongest quality as a midfielder, he is gradually starting to show more quality on the ball to both keep play ticking over in his own half and start to pick more telling passes further forward.
The challenge that Josh Eccles faces with regards to his further progression at Coventry City is that the club is now capable of recruiting players who may be both more talented and more capable of improving faster than Eccles is. As much as Josh Eccles has improved over the past year, he is not yet a consistent difference-maker in midfield and that brings the temptation to try out other players in his position alongside Ben Sheaf (primarily, Jamie Allen, but also the recent addition of Victor Torp puts pressure on Eccles’ place in the side). The next few months could be crucial for Josh Eccles in establishing himself as a key contributor in midfield as the competition may only increase. There is no reason why he cannot reach that level, the question is if he can reach it quickly enough to match the club’s current level of ambition.
Sideways Sammy 