What start to the week for Coventry City, isn’t it? As if their huge win over Newcastle United wasn’t enough, there was more good news coming from thousands of miles away over the weekend. This time, courtesy of one of their loanees.
Miguel Brau has finally earned himself a starting spot at Académico de Viseu. The Spaniard played the full 90 minutes in their 2-1 win over Estoril, just weeks after struggling to get on the pitch at all.
And the best part? It looks like those 45 minutes we highlighted a few weeks ago really did change things for him.
Coventry loanee gets his reward
Portuguese newspaper O Jogo have picked up on Brau’s progress this Tuesday, saying the defender has “moved up a level” in manager Bruno Pinheiro’s plans.
The 24-year-old was the only surprise in Académico’s starting XI against Estoril. He took Gustavo Costa’s place at left-back and played the entire match.
That’s quite a change from where he was last month. Brau had managed just 16 minutes against Gil Vicente before getting a full half against Estrela da Amadora.
He came on for Costa at half-time that day, with the latter already on a yellow card. And he certainly made his chance count.
O Jogo suggested at the time that he was starting to gain ground on Costa. Now, after Académico’s very next match, he’s already taken his place.
Exactly what Coventry wanted to see
Académico have now won four league games in a row, are surprisingly sitting sixth in the Portuguese league and Brau has managed to break into the team during that run.
Managers don’t usually feel much pressure to change a winning side. Yet Pinheiro decided to give the Coventry loanee his first start anyway. That should be an encouraging sign for the defender.
It’s still early days, of course. One start doesn’t mean the left-back has nailed down the position for good. But after spending most of September watching from the sidelines, Brau finally has something to build on – a solid display and an important home win.
For Coventry, that’s just another little reason to smile.
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