Sideways Sammy

To have broken into the Coventry City first-team and made 100 league appearances for the club, nearly all of which have been at Championship level, is an impressive achievement for Josh Eccles. The academy product has fought hard for each appearance, willing to fil in various positions and having to progressively add elements to his game in order to remain a fixture for a team that, theoretically, has its sights set on the Premier League. It is now difficult to imagine a Coventry City XI without Josh Eccles in it, he looks well set to add to the century of league appearances he has already made for the club.

It is Josh Eccles’ ability to plug various holes in the team that has made him so trusted by Mark Robins over the years. Initially valued for his ability to fill in at right wing-back, Eccles has also operated as either a holding or box-to-box midfielder, even doing a decent job towards the end of last season on the right of the attack. Eccles’ energy and tactical intelligence are his strengths, though there remains a sense that he still has more to offer in terms of being a contributor to the team in his own right, rather than a facilitator of others. There are still occasional sloppy moments on the ball, of not quite making his presence known as an enforcer off it that put his long-term place in midfield at risk but Josh Eccles has shown he can continually rise to the level demanded of him.

If Josh Eccles can add that missing element of presence to his game, he could well be the next Coventry City captain. That he has reached the landmark of 100 appearances with there still being room for growth provides Eccles with a peak to aspire to. Just how much scope there is for Eccles to improve will start to become apparent over the next year or so. Currently, he has comfortably progressed from academy player to first-team squad member to starting XI regular. The next part will define what kind of a career Josh Eccles goes on to have.