STRIKER Dominic Samuel has joined the Sky Blues on an emergency loan deal from Championship side Reading.
The 20-year-old has moved to the Ricoh Arena until April 28 having already enjoyed loan spells at Dagenham and Redbridge and Colchester United.
Sky Blues boss Steven Pressley has identified pace as one element missing from his side in recent months and the arrival of Samuel who was knocking on the door for first team football at Reading, fits that mould.
The Southwark-born striker has also made three appearances for the England Under-19 side, scoring two goals against Ukraine and Denmark.
“We’re delighted to be able to bring Dominic into the club,” said Pressley.
“We’ve been looking to add to our forward options throughout the transfer window and Dominic will bring pace to our forward line, an attribute we outlined at the start of the window.
“He has already gained international recognition and Dominic will be a valuable option for us during his loan spell with the club.”
The introduction of a new striker could spell the end of a move for Gary Madine whose loan spell ends this week.
Pressley has expressed his desire to sign Madine on a Permanent basis and the 24-year-old has also said he wants to remain at the Ricoh Arena.
But as reported in the Observer this week there are complications with his current contract at Sheffield Wednesday and a deal to bring bring Madine in again looks to be out of the club’s hands.
The Observer understand the Sky Blues are also working hard to bring in an attacking midfielder from the Championship.
“Ideally we’d like to bring in two or three new players,” Waggot told the Observer.
“We’re looking at bringing in a young player who is already knocking on the door for first team football – someone who is desperate to be given an opportunity and will bring lots of energy to the side.
“The problem that we’ve got is it is a difficult market to work in. Lots of other clubs are in the same position as us and are after the same thing.
“We’ve been talking about a lack of pace in the side since the summer. Last season we had Callum Wilson in the side but he made the step up to Bournemouth where he is performing superbly in the Championship.
“I’ve been looking at the stats and we’re currently top of the table for clean sheets but bottom of the table for scoring, which shows the comparison between this season and last season where we were a free-scoring team scoring goals for fun.”
