Rotherham United boss Matt Taylor believes West Ham United loanee Conor Coventry has a ‘great chance’ to be a Premier League player. He has impressed since moving in January.
Taylor sought to sign Coventry on loan for the rest of this season after selling Dan Barlaser to Middlesbrough. The midfielder joined Michael Carrick’s team for up to £1.5m to help to push for promotion from the Championship. But he held a vital place at New York Stadium.
Coventry has since had to fill Barlaser’s void and has enjoyed a solid start since arriving late in the market. The 22-year-old has started and played the full 90 minutes in all three of his second-tier matches. He also penned his first assist with the Millers at Reading on Tuesday.
Lee Peltier headed home Coventry’s cross to break the deadlock but the Royals came from behind to win 2-1. Taylor had overseen 0-0 draws in Coventry’s first two appearances with Rotherham against Sheffield United and Blackpool. They host Coventry City this Saturday.
West Ham boss David Moyes had seldom fielded Coventry before sanctioning his loan with Rotherham. The Scot only played the Republic of Ireland U21 international for 345 minutes over seven fixtures across all competitions. He played five times in the Conference League.
Rotherham boss Taylor backs West Ham loanee Coventry for the Premier League
Coventry’s only Premier League appearance this season came on the opening day as West Ham hosted Manchester City. Moyes fielded the midfielder as a stoppage-time substitute for Pablo Fornals. He would only spend a further 10 games from 19 matches on the bench.
Rotherham now marks the fourth loan spell of Coventry’s career as West Ham previously sent him to Lincoln City in 2020, Peterborough United in 2021 and MK Dons in 2022. Taylor feels his Peterborough spell possibly came too soon. But he is pleased with his efforts now.
“Conor seems someone I can really depend on and trust,” Taylor told The Yorkshire Post. “Despite his young age, he has a good pedigree and good experience. His mind seems to be his biggest asset, along with being a good footballer. He’s got a hell of a chance.”
Taylor added: “Whatever happens in the next few months will put him in a better position to go on and play Premier League football, which he has a great chance of doing.
“He’s going to learn a lot about himself. He probably had Championship football slightly too soon at the start of last season at Peterborough.
“He got great exposure at League One level with MK Dons in the second half of the campaign. Now he’s better equipped to deal with the demands of Championship football.”
A stoppage-time cameo against Manchester City in August also marked Coventry’s Premier League debut. He has been an unused substitute for 27 top-flight games since first making a squad in October 2018. Manuel Pellegrini included the Irons product among his backups.
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