SKY Blues boss Tony Mowbray has confirmed that midfielder Joe Cole will extend his stay at the League One club until the new year.
The former England international had originally signed a short term deal which was set to expire after Saturday’s top-of-the-table clash against Gillingham.
But the Aston Villa midfielder, who has made three appearances and scored one goal for the Sky Blues, has extended his stay until January 3.
And Mowbray although Cole is unlikely to feature against Gillingham, the former West Ham and Chelsea star will be given more minutes on the pitch in the coming weeks.
“The extension is all agreed with Aston Villa,” said Mowbray.
“He hasn’t put pen to paper yet but he’s about to. Once that’s done the loan will be until January 3rd.
“I’m having a meeting with Joe about putting a plan together of three weeks solid training.
“For Joe, it’s better for him to try and get fit and not chase the next game. It’s like a mini pre-season for him. He’s probably been playing with the Under-21s at Villa and so we’ll put that plan together to get him to train day, after day, after day with the group and all the extra stuff to do in the gym too.
“When he gets fully fit, we’ll have a footballer who is playing well below his talent level.”
Recent loan signings Ben Turner and Gael Bigirimana look set to be handed their debuts after re-joining their former club this week.
And Mowbray will also be boosted by the return of Ryan Kent and leading scorer Adam Armstrong who both missed last week’s victory at Colchester through international duty.
The Sky Blues are expecting their biggest attendance of the season with the club reaching 10,000 pre-sale purchases by Friday morning.
Fans are advised to get to the Ricoh Arena early due to expected queues and there will also be additional safety screenings with extra stewards and police on duty following recent events in Paris.
The club are urging supporters, where possible, not to bring rucksacks or bags to the stadium to speed up the screening process before the match, and stay vigilant during the game with the national threat level currently at ‘severe’.
