Why Coventry City striker looking to go full circle in the FA Cup is ‘not happy’ with Viktor Gyokeres
Coventry City news from CoventryLive as Sky Blues reporter Andy Turner sits down with young forward Fabio Tavares to discuss his Portuguese roots, international ambitions and the really annoying form of Viktor Gyokeres
Running clean through on goal with Coventry City trailing unexpectedly 2-0 to non-league Wrexham in the FA Cup, Fabio Tavares looked like he’d been taken out by a sniper as he dropped to the deck at the CBS Arena.
The final 4-3 scoreline in favour of the Hollywood-funded visitors added insult to the young striker’s devastating injury, having suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon that would keep him out for exactly a year, with the player making his comeback 12 months later in the third round of the competition when he went on for the last 20-odd minutes in the Sky Blues ‘ 6-2 victory over Oxford United.
He’s made eight appearances including two starts since then, scoring three goals and catching the eye from the bench in his last two showings as he battles to establish himself as a regular contributor in the side.
“I came on quite early in the second half and just tried to impact it as much as I could,” he said, reflecting on last week’s defeat at Southampton, where he provided an assist for Jake Bidwell to reduce the deficit at St Mary’s Stadium.
“We were 2-0 down at the time and I wanted to be positive and try to create opportunities and create problems for Southampton, and thankfully I came up with a little assist and had a part to play in Jake’s goal. But I just tried to bring a different energy to the game.
“I knew that Jake and Haji like to sneak in at the back stick so I just aimed for an area where they could come in and score. He made a great run, picked it out and hit a great finish. Southampton are a great side but I feel like if we had started the game as we did in the second half we could have probably got something from the game.”
Game time and opportunities were few and far between last season when he was limited to 11 appearances as he attempted to bridge the gap from development football where he had scored a stack of goals and was desperately trying to break through as a senior when his career was stopped in its tracks.
“I was one v one at the time and I just thought someone had taken me out,” he said, re-living the moment. “But looking back I think that was a coping mechanism in my mind, telling me that it can’t be what I was thinking it was. It was like the worst pain in the world for about five to seven seconds but then because the tendon wasn’t attached you don’t feel anything after that. The physios came on and asked if I could move my foot but I couldn’t even feel my foot.
“And from then onwards I knew what it was. The biggest frustration for me was that although the game wasn’t going well at the time, it was an opportunity for me to show everyone what I could do playing up front. It was the frustration of knowing that opportunity had gone to waste, and that’s what I was the most angry about because there was nothing I could do apart from recover and try to get right again.”
He added: “It was really difficult sitting on the sidelines and not being able to help the team. That was the toughest part but I had people there with me, Callum (O’Hare) and Kasey (Palmer) as well, for a little bit, and that made it easier than it should have been because we were going through the same things at the same time. But I am happy that it’s done now.
“It happened at a youngish age for me so if I can come back from that then there’s nothing to be scared of going forward. I certainly feel stronger and a better player, a better person and a lot stronger mentally, so it’s only put me in a better position.
“I had a year out so it was always going to take time to get back to the levels I was once at, and thankfully now it’s coming along with a few goals and assists, and hopefully I can keep doing that until the end of the season.”