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CHRIS BIRCHALL will not play for Coventry City again, Chris Coleman has confirmed.

The Trinidad & Tobago midfielder, who used to play for Port Vale, has signed a season-long loan deal with League One Carlisle United.

The switch has seen Birchall make one substitute appearance so far, although Carlisle have already agreed to take him for the rest of the season, effectively ending his disappointing career at the Ricoh Arena.

"Birchy is not coming back to us," said Coleman.

"He has gone to Carlisle until the end of the season and it is up to them whether they do anything.

"He has got to play so many games for them before a contract kicks in for him there, but he is done and dusted with Coventry."

COVENTRY CITY'S abysmal home form has been the elephant in the Sky Blues dressing room this week.

Manager Chris Coleman admits he must break through the psychological block that has seen his side collect just three points from the last 18 on offer at the Ricoh Arena.

But as he prepared for tomorrow's showdown with Ipswich Town he revealed: "I haven't mentioned it to the lads once this week.

"There's no point in me saying 'go out and enjoy yourself' because you know that's just not realistic

"They are desperate to do well at the Ricoh but my biggest criticism of them at the moment is that they get too anxious at home.

"They're too tense - they can't produce the flowing football that they can in away matches.

"At home they feel we have to excite, to be creative and attack. They want the three points so much that there's always the danger of losing their shape.

"If the opposition string four or five passes together we sometimes panic and start rushing around because we want to get the ball back.

PATIENCE is something Coventry City forward Robbie Simpson has in abundance.

Having made only four Championship starts this season, the 23-year-old is desperate to stamp his mark at the club and show that he also has plenty of goals in him to help the Sky Blues kick-start their season.

Currently sitting midway, City's campaign could go either way, but after scoring his first Championship goal in 14 months to help the team to a 2-1 win over bottom club Charlton Athletic on Tuesday night, Simpson hopes he can stay in the side and repay the manager for finally giving him an opportunity to shine.

"I want to take my chance now," said the striker, who is being deployed out of position wide on the right.

"I just want to stay in the team. I always give 110 per cent and, luckily, a lot of things went for me on Tuesday night. Hopefully I can keep that form going and get a few more goals because the midfielders have got to be scoring as well as the strikers and I feel I can provide a goal threat from that side.

"I have had to be very patient, a bit too patient in my eyes because I wanted to get in a lot sooner, but I am in now and it is my job to stay in."

Simpson was signed by Iain Dowie 18 months ago, plucked from non-league Cambridge United for a fee of £40,000 set at a tribunal after he had made a name for himself at the Abbey Stadium with an impressive 17 goals in 28 league games.

COVENTRY CITY defender Marcus Hall hates playing at right-back.

Fast becoming the Sky Blues' utility man, the veteran left-back expressed his relief that the club had finally got two fit and able defenders to fill the berth that has been an on-going problem at the club for the last three seasons.

But with summer signing Stephen Wright back from a three-month lay off with an Achilles problem, and understudy Isaac Osbourne on the bench, Hall felt safe that he wouldn't be called upon as emergency cover any more.

And with first choice left-back Danny Fox a yellow card away from suspension, he had been biding his time to get his chance in his preferred position.

That was on Monday when the player was looking ahead to City's match against Swansea at the Ricoh Arena.

But little more than 24 hours later and the 32-year-old got the call from the bench after Wright limped off with a knee injury and then his replacement, Osbourne, hobbled off with an ankle injury in the space of the first 10 minutes against the Swans.

"I can't believe it to be honest," said Hall, who is in his testimonial season with the Sky Blues.

"I was only saying the day before that we have got two players who can play at right-back now and I was pretty relieved about it.

"Then they both go and get injured in the same game.

"It is obviously bad luck for them, but I just can't believe it.

STEPHEN Wright's return to fitness couldn't come at a better time for Coventry City.

Criticised for complacency in their recent 2-0 defeat by Crystal Palace at the Ricoh Arena just days after beating second placed Birmingham away from home, the Sky Blues youthful looking squad appears to be lacking experience in their ranks to help the team dig in when the going gets tough.

Manager Chris Coleman is actively scouring the loan market for suitable leaders, but defender Wright might just provide the influence that was sadly lacking in that dismal display against the Eagles.

"There are only five or six of us in the squad aged 28 or over so maybe we need a bit more experience," said the 28-year-old right-back who has been out for almost three months with a partial tear of his left Achilles.

But after coming through 65 minutes of his second reserve game - a 2-1 defeat at Wolves - and the 1-0 away win at Sheffield Wednesday, the former Liverpool player can finally see light at the end of the tunnel.

"It's been a nightmare to be honest and the worst injury I have ever had," he said.

"I joined the club for a fresh start and it has been frustrating, especially when I have been unable to help the lads out.

''It came at the worst possible time for me but I am getting closer and hopefully I can make the squad in the next week or two."

Wright signed for City on a free transfer from Sunderland in the summer, bringing an end to five years in the North-east.

Although surplus to requirements at the Stadium of Light, the full-back put himself in the shop window with an impressive three-month loan spell with Stoke last season where he helped pave the way for the Potters' promotion to the Premier League.