Coventry City man backing teammate to be Championship 'nightmare'

Dominic Hyam is backing Coventry City striker Fabio Tavares to be every defender’' nightmare in the Championship this season.

The centre-half is closing in on 200 appearances for the Sky Blues and has been using his experience to help younger players like Tavares improve their game, specifically telling the 21-year-old that he’s the type of player he hates to face.

“Fabio is a young striker and sometimes he will ask me what’s tough from a defender’s point of view to play against, as in what I don’t like to play against so he can try to implement that into his game,” explained the 26-year-old, speaking ahead of Saturday's clash with Millwall.

“Some strikers you don’t mind playing against, the big ones who are less mobile for example, but it’s the little, nippy sharp ones who always put you under pressure. They are a nightmare for me.”

Asked if he thinks Tavares, who has stepped up to be a more active member of Mark Robins’ first team squad this year, can prove to be a thorn in opposition defences this term, whether that be from the start or, more likely, initially as an impact player as a substitute, Hyam said: “Yes, definitely, and he’s had a really good pre-season as well. Off the bench, especially, it’s another thing for defenders to think about when they have come up against players like Vik and Matty for 80-odd minutes and then someone like Fabio comes on and is not going to give them a moment’s rest, which is what you want on 85 minutes.

“It’s all about learning the game. He’s still really young and just asking for pointers can only help him and I think he can have a really good season.”