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Stern John has already been ruled out of Coventry City’s clash with Reading as manager Micky Adams continues to be frustrated by the striker’s international commitments.


The Trinidad and Tobago international is expected back from his long haul trips to play Guatemala and Costa Rica in World Cup qualifiers tomorrow, but the Sky Blues boss believes it is time for the player to put his club before country.

“We hope Stern’s two goals against Guatemala give him a bit of confidence,” said Adams who is yet to see his striker get off the mark for City this season.

Trinidad lost 2-0 to Costa Rica yesterday and are still in contention for a play-off place which means John will be off on his travels again for games against Panama and Mexico next month.

“Everyone knows my policy with Stern, and that is if he goes away on international duty he doesn’t play on the Saturday, so he won’t feature this weekend and he knows that,” said Adams.

“The problem we have with Stern is that we get him fit and send him off on international duty. He comes back tired because of all the travelling and then we have got to get him right again to go off again. It’s nonsense.

“I don’t think I could ever stop anyone from representing their country, but some of these competitions Trinidad and Tobago get involved with is taking it too far.

“Stern has not had a rest because he played throughout the summer and there will have to be a time when Stern says, ‘Hold on a minute, I am not helping myself with all this travelling’.

“That has possibly had an effect on his form at the start of the season but Scowcroft and Adebola have formed a good partnership, so if he does go away and lose his place then he is like anyone else and has to try and win it back."

Adams says his other internationals are also at risk of losing their places this weekend, leaving the likes of Andrew Whing and Ady Williams on standby.

He said: "I will have a think about all the players who have played two games and decide whether they play on Saturday or not. We have got plenty of options."

Claus Jorgensen also comes into that bracket, along with Robert Page and Richard Duffy, having played against France and Israel for the Faroe Islands.