EFL duo risk wrath of their manager for breaking club rule after playing bizarre on-field game
COVENTRY duo Milan van Ewijk and Brandon Thomas-Asante risked enraging boss Mark Robins with a bizarre on-field game last night.
The Sky Blues took on Blackburn at the Coventry Building Society Arena, with the visitors going into the night unbeaten this term.
Robins’ men have struggled so far this season, only winning one of their opening seven Championship games.
But they produced a much-improved performance last night against John Eustace’s Rovers.
With their side 2-0 up courtesy of goals by Jake Bidwell and Haji Wright, however, Van Ewijk and Thomas-Asante may have produced one small blot on Robins’ copybook.
After Coventry earned a free-kick in a dangerous position, both men fancied a crack at goal.
In order to decide who took it, the pair played rock, paper scissors.
Van Ewijk, 24, came out on top – but could only strike his subsequent effort straight at goalkeeper Aynsley Pears.
The Dutchman appeared to see the funny side, smiling after botching his attempt.
But his manager may view things differently.
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Back in February, Robins threatened to kill Wright and Callum O’Hare after the duo used the same game to determine who took a penalty during a clash at Millwall.
Even after Wright tucked the spot kick away, his boss said at the time: “Rock paper scissors? I’m going to kill them.
“For me, it’s about who’s confident to take the penalty. Now, Callum’s confident, Haji was a regular penalty taker in Turkey, so I’ve got no problem and then if I get involved with that then it obviously puts doubt in somebody’s head.
“So, let them sort it out and if they miss it then they’re in trouble, aren’t they, but thankfully they’ve got the wherewithal and the calm heads to deal with that situation.
“The good thing is they both want to score, they both want to take the penalty, they both want to get on the scoresheet.”
Just four minutes after Van Ewijk wasted last night’s free-kick, Thomas-Asante scored to make the three points safe.
Following his side’s 3-0 win, Robins said: “We were looking for a performance – and it was a big performance.
“We played really well, but I think we’ve played well in a number of games this season.
“I knew they were going to give a really good performance and that’s exactly what we got.”
Coventry’s win saw them climb to 16th in the table after eight matches, while Blackburn missed the chance to go top.