Minhyeok Yang netted three goals and provided two assists in 16 outings for Pompey during the first half of the season.
It was a move that was expected to improve his game time, but Minhyeok Yang’s stint with Coventry City is quickly turning into a nightmare.
The Tottenham Hotspur loanee was the first exit at Fratton Park during the January window, as the Premier League strugglers pulled the plug on his season-long stint on the south coast.
But Minhyeok’s season, which started on a relatively positive note with Pompey, is quickly unravelling as the season heads towards its climax.
Despite starting on debut against Stoke City in the FA Cup just days after his move, the South Korean youth international’s game time has come at a premium.
Coventry nightmare continues for ex-Pompey loanee
The young forward has been left out of the Sky Blues’ previous seven Championship matchday squads as he plummets down the pecking order in Lampard’s attack.
In fact, the one-time Pompey loanee’s last outing came more than a month ago, in a one-minute cameo during Coventry’s goalless draw with Oxford United at the start of February.
That represents just one of his three appearances with Lampard’s men, of which all have come from the bench - and has totalled just 29 minutes of league action.
With a swath of attacking talent currently ahead of Minhyeok in Lampard’s armoury, the Coventry boss recently explained he has had to make tough decisions to ensure his side have the best chance of reaching the Premier League this term.
‘I don’t have a preference of loan or players that are ours, as such, because at the minute we want to win. I can’t add those kind of emotions into it.
‘I have to try to pick the best 11 and the best bench, and at the moment we don’t have any injuries, other than Brau who’s coming back to train this week.
Minhyeok Yang.placeholder image
Minhyeok Yang. | Getty Images
‘So we had some injuries in the early part of the season when we did have a thinner squad and now we have a fuller squad.
‘That’s just what it is and we know and the players know what’s in front of us for the next two and a half to three months. So we have to go.’
Minhyeok Yang’s time at Pompey
Minhyeok arrived on a season-long loan from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on the eve of the opening day against Oxford United, which saw him swiftly named in the match-day squad just days into his Fratton career.
Despite a slow start to life on the south coast, the winger grew in confidence and was a regular fixture in John Mousinho’s frontline amid injuries to Josh Murphy, Harvey Blair, Callum Lang, Franco Umeh and Florian Bianchini.
The Spurs talent amassed 16 outings during his short stay on the south coast, netting three goals and providing two assists.
His final kick for the Blues saw him grab a last-minute winner against Charlton Athletic in December, just days before the north London outfit triggered his recall option.
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