“It was quite obvious last season that he wasn’t happy playing second fiddle, if anyone is going to go, it’s going to be him”- Pundit gives opinion on which Coventry goalkeeper should be sold as Blues close in on Oliver Dovin signing

Coventry City are said to be close to finalising a deal to bring goalkeeper Oliver Dovin to the club from Hammarby this summer.

That’s according to reports in Sweden, who suggest Mark Robins looks set to add the Swede to his squad ahead of the upcoming Championship campaign, as the Sky Blues look to build on their promising showing last season.

A poor run of form at the end of the season prevented City from being in the second-tier play-offs for the second year running, although they did have a famous FA Cup run to the semi-finals to look back fondly on.

But the arrival of the 22-year-old means Robins will have three top shot-stoppers at his disposal, with Brad Collins and Ben Wilson both vying for the number one spot alongside the potential new recruit.

Ben Wilson could be the one to lose out in Coventry City, Oliver Dovin transfer

Both Wilson and Collins have played their part in Cov’s rise up the ranks in recent seasons, with the former the man trusted between the sticks in the 22/23 campaign, before the latter edged him out in the partway into the 23/24 season.

Since then, the former Barnsley man has been the man trusted between the sticks, but with Dovin’s arrival seemingly imminent, that could all be about to change.

With that in mind, we spoke to FLW’s Sky Blues fan pundit Neil Littlewood about how he sees the situation unfolding at City throughout the summer if a new goalkeeper is brought in.

Littlewood said: “The big Swede looks like he’s coming in. I don’t know much about him really, I’ve seen a couple of highlight packages and it looks like he commands his box really well and looks like a right prospect, so I’m happy with that.

“For me, I think if anyone is going to go, it’s going to be Ben Wilson. It was quite obvious last season that he wasn’t happy playing second fiddle to Collins.

“Obviously, he had the season of his life before that, but he’s always been a career number two, so if I was choosing I’d keep Collins, and I’d have him and Dovin competing for the shirt.

“It is an intriguing one, if Wilson goes I think he drops to top end of League One. If I was making the decision it would be Wilson moving on and I’d be looking at League One.”

Brad Collins will face stiff competition from Oliver Dovin in competition for Coventry City starting spot. Whether a goalkeeper leaves is one matter, but whether the other one who has to stay and be second choice will be happy with that scenario is another matter entirely.

Collins was brought in from Barnsley and instated himself as first-choice by November, as he featured in 28 Championship games and kept eight clean sheets in the process.

But after shipping 12 goals in their final six winless matches of the season, City saw a playoff spot slip through their fingers at the end of the campaign, and Littlewood believes that could count against Collins in the season to come.

The Sky Blues fan continued: “My only issue with that would be is Collins happy with being a number two? I don’t know. He was obviously brought in to be our first-choice goalkeeper, and on the whole had a very good season.

“Just towards the tail end he had some howlers – there’s no other word to describe them – and I was a big fan of Collins, so I was shocked.

“But there’s a world where all three stay, we’ve lost Simon Moore – who was an experienced head – this summer, with him going to Sunderland. So maybe Robins wants the three of them, I don’t know.”