Coventry City summer signing makes breakthrough in wildcard bid for Frank Lampard
Coventry City summer signing Raphael Borges Rodrigues completed another hour of competitive football as he bids to make an impact for Frank Lampard in the second half of this Championship season.
Raphael, 21, was the first new arrival through the door all the way back in June when he joined from Macarthur FC, but he has been utterly luckless on the fitness front through the autumn and winter of last year - the new year, though, has coincided with his return to action in the first-team environment and the Sky Blues have stepped up his recovery by getting more minutes into his legs this week.
The young winger, who possesses Australian citizenship but who was born in the Netherlands, made his long-awaited debut as a very late substitute in the 1-1 draw at Cardiff City on New Year's Day. Frank Lampard then introduced him from the bench against Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup on Saturday evening and Raphael secured 15 minutes more in a City shirt.
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On Tuesday, the forward completed an hour for the club's under 21s as they welcomed their Wednesday counterparts to the Alan Higgs Centre and he contributed as they eased past the young Owls 3-0 in the Professional Development League, their second straight victory since returning to action after Christmas which has lifted them up to seventh in the table.
Raphael played his part in creating the second goal in the routine success; he ventured on a mazy run before feeding Aidan Dausch, who in turn teed up Elliot Betjemann who found the net. Raphael, who on another afternoon might've scored himself when he passed up a one-v-one opportunity, also produced another chance when he earned City a penalty but Dausch's spot-kick was saved.
Raphael will hope to be involved under Lampard on Saturday when the Sky Blues welcome Bristol City to the CBS Arena, when they'll be looking to secure their first Championship win since Boxing Day after an otherwise disappointing haul of two points from their last three matches.
