Coventry City fans appear split on whether young striker Jordan Ponticelli should go out on loan or stay and get his chance to get some desperately needed goals for the first team.

The teenager has been limited to two substitute appearances for the Sky Blues so far this season, amounting to just 47 minutes of senior football, the latest when he went on late at Gillingham on Saturday.

Manager Mark Robins is trying to sign Portsmouth striker Conor Chaplin on loan this week, before Friday's 5pm temporary deal deadline.

If the manager is finally successful in landing his summer-long target he will have to balance the wage bill by letting one or more players out on loan.

Chaplin's arrival would mean City would be top heavy in the striker department with five in all along with Jonson Clarke-Harris , Jordy Hiwula, Amadou Bakayoko and Ponticelli.

Jordan Ponticelli celebrates scoring against Crawley last season - one of six goals for the cub last term.

It would have been six had Max Biamou not suffered a season-ending cruciate knee ligament injury last week.

Most squads at this level operate with four senior strikers, and therefore something has to give.

In a CoventryLive poll in which more than 1,000 fans voted, we asked if Ponticelli should be sent out on loan.

So far 55 per cent of supporters who voted said that he should stay and be given a chance, convinced that he'll get goals for the Sky Blues, while 45 per cent think he should go out on loan to further his development with regular first team football.

Ponticelli, who was today due to play in the Under-23s against Bolton, will not be short of offers, with several League Two clubs having expressed an interest in his services.

But, ultimately, it appears to come down to whether Chaplin touches down at Ryton this week.

Here's what fans have been saying about the situation:

One in, one out: If Conor Chaplin finally arrives on loan this week it may mean a striker has to go out.

Tom Spilsbury said: "How do we still have to balance the books? We're well in profit this summer."

Nigel Baggaley said: "Whats happened to 'in Robins we trust'.. the lad's not good enough - sorry but he isn't.

"Just look at the games in our league, the strikers are just a tad better and are experienced. I trust the manager to get it right, not bothered at all about the the first quarter of the season at all,,,

"It means nothing, get a good 6 or 7 game run of wins and your in the top 6. The only thing I would say about our team is we are way below what we need in large heafty players ..big physical sides are going to beat us 9 out of 10 times this season."

poll loading

Should Jordan Ponticelli go out on loan?

1000+ VOTES SO FAR

Stuart Hamilton said: "If I were Ponticelli my resignation would have been on Robins desk!"

Mick Davenport said: "If and it’s a big if we get Chaplin in, then loan him out. City have a annoying habit of letting people go out and then don’t replace them."

Jordan Ponticelli (right) at Gillingham at the weekend

James Hall said: "Rather he played as no 10 tbh."

David Ervin said: "Don't even think about it. He can play No10."

Nathan Pettit said: "Send him out on loan."

David Johnson said: "If I was a manager, I don't think that I would sign a player who "downs tools" for his current club, not even on loan. Particularly if it means losing the services of Ponticelli who is desperate to play for us."

Brooklyn said: "Honestly reckon Jordan Ponticelli could do bits this season looked pretty good against derby in the friendly and needs his chance."

Neil Jones said: "I would rather keep Ponticelli then let him leave on loan and bring in Chaplin."

Comments

*We have taken the decision to disable the comments function on Coventry City articles due to an ongoing problem of users failing to adhere to our rules of conduct and the persistent abuse of the section by one or more individuals hiding behind a string of anonymous accounts.

We still value your honest and passionate opinions and would urge you to continue to have your say on our Coventry City Facebook page which can be found here .

All you need to know about Coventry City now

Comments will be far easier for us to police and cannot be blocked or removed by fellow supporters. Only we will have the power to hide comments.

We would like to thank the majority of Sky Blues fans who have been using the comments section in a correct manner to have their say on their team and we hope you will continue to do so on our Facebook page.

We have also set up a Facebook group which you can use to share posts on your team, which can be found via the link here .

Download our all-new mobile app to get the latest news, sport and what's on. Click here for iPhone and here for Android

Looking for an older story? Search our archives

Search for jobs, motors and property, or place an advert or family notice here.