Report: Gus Hamer outlines Coventry City intention after play-off heartbreak
![](https://247sportcamp.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/0_Coventry-Citys-Gustavo-Hamer-celebrates-scoring.jpg)
Coventry City midfielder Gus Hamer’s goal at Wembley on Saturday was not enough to fire the Sky Blues to the Premier League
Gus Hamer says all that Coventry City can do next season is go one better after painfully falling at the final hurdle in their quest for a return to the Premier League. City were beaten on penalties by top-flight bound Luton Town at Wembley on Saturday after a two-hour stalemate.
Midfielder Hamer, generally regarded as one of the best performing midfielders in the entire division this season, had drawn Sky Blues level with a fabulous second-half goal when he finished off a fine counter attacking move which also involved Callum Doyle and fellow star player Viktor Gyokeres, but his afternoon ended prematurely through an ankle injury.
The Dutch-Brazilian, who when equalising cancelled out Jordan Clark’s first-half opener, will naturally be the subject of plenty of speculation this coming summer. It’s accepted that Hamer, who has a year remaining on his City contract, is deserving of a crack at the Premier League, and it was of course hoped that that chance might come in a sky blue jersey.
What the summer holds for Hamer remains to be seen as of yet, but for now he’ll take a short break like the rest of the squad and, until he hears otherwise, will head back to Ryton for pre-season and aim for promotion again.
“I don’t think we would necessarily have won the game if I had stayed on the pitch,” he said. “The team did an amazing job – it’s a team effort, we didn’t lose the game and we win or lose together. It was a story of chances and mistakes on both sides, and in the shoot-out it was always likely that the first one to miss would lose the game, and unfortunately it was us.
“It’s hard to take, and it will be hard to take for a while, because we came from so far back in the table to reach Wembley and we were so close.
“It’s frustrating, it’s annoying, it’s sad – but that’s football. We must start again and work hard to do it all again, hopefully one step further, but it was an amazing achievement to come from three points in our first seven games to the brink of the Premier League.”
READ MORE:
Richard Keys reacts to Coventry City heartbreak and sends message to Luton Town
Latest Coventry City news from CoventryLive includes Richard Keys’ reaction to the Sky Blues’ Championship play-off final defeat
Coventry City fan Richard Keys has ‘no complaints’ after watching Luton Town edge a dramatic penalty shoot-out at Wembley to win promotion to the Premier League.
The Sky Blues and Luton couldn’t be separated after 120 minutes of football in the capital and both netted their first five penalties in the shoot-out. Fankaty Dabo stepped up sixth for Coventry and fired over the bar to hand victory to Luton.
The Premier League will have to wait, but Coventry have enjoyed a remarkable season nonetheless. Having been among the early strugglers in the Championship, the Sky Blues raced up the table to finish fifth before beating Michael Carrick’s much-fancied Middlesbrough side over two legs to book a spot at Wembley.
One team inevitably leaves Wembley heartbroken and Coventry were the unlucky ones. Ex-Sky Sports host Keys, now working for Qatar-based TV network beIN Sports, has congratulated Luton on their triumph.
He said: “Incredible. I’ve no complaints. Luton were the better team & their story is incredible. Absolutely incredible. Good luck to you, Luton Town.”