Tatsuhiro Sakamoto: Coventry City midfielder's first goal will boost 'positive influence'
- Published
Tatsuhiro Sakamoto joined Coventry from Belgian club Oostende
Coventry defender Jake Bidwell hopes Tatsuhiro Sakamoto's first goal for the club will give him a confidence boost for the second half of the season.
The Japan international scored in Saturday's 3-0 win at Millwall, in his 14th appearance for the club after arriving from Belgian side Oostende.
The victory was Coventry's first since early October and they are 20th in the Championship table.
"I'm delighted for him to get his first in English football," said Bidwell.
"He's been a positive influence around the training ground ever since he's been here.
"His English is really good and getting better all the time - and the lads are learning Japanese as well, little words here and there that make him feel at home a little bit.
"He's been great and his first goal will hopefully give him an extra bit of confidence."
Bidwell himself has only made eight appearances so far this season - but the game at The Den was his second successive start for the Sky Blues.
Prior to the past two games Coventry had lost four in a row, having been mid-table in early October.
"We've got a process that we work to, and stick to, and believe in it," said Bidwell.
"If we keep doing that, we believe things will turn and we've got to make sure that the last two results are the turning point for us now and we can really kick on.
"We've got a big month ahead. If we can build up a bit of momentum going into Christmas, hopefully in the new year we'll be in a much more positive place, looking at the league table."
They next face Plymouth Argyle at home on Tuesday and Sky Blues boss Mark Robins said "the data is telling us that things are moving in the right direction," despite their league position.
He added: "I think we've played really well in most of the games - you can probably count on two fingers the performances when we've not done as well as we'd expect."