Striker Frank Nouble scored the winning goal as loan club Coventry City beat Gillingham 1-0 on their return to the Ricoh Arena.

The 22-year-old, who joined the Sky Blues until January late on deadline day, netted in the 10th minute of his debut for the League One club.

Nouble, who was replaced on 59, told the Sky Blues official site that he talked with Town team-mate David McGoldrick, who was on loan at the Ricoh Arena prior to moving to Portman Road.

"I spoke to David before I came here and he spoke very highly of the club and said it did wonders for his career," he said.

"If I can do what he did it will obviously help my career, but the most important thing for me is helping the team do well.

"Coventry City is a massive club to me and I think we can be pushing for the play-offs and although my loan is only until January at the minute, if we can get to that point and we're real play-off contenders I'll want to stay here, carry on doing well and see it through."

He said his debut couldn't have gone any better: "To be honest I thought about it all day yesterday, thinking of scoring here, after we were taken on a tour of the stadium yesterday.

"You can see Coventry is a massive club and you could see that everybody wanted to show their support and I think the players responded well.

"Ryan Haynes played ever so well. I thought I was young at 22 but he's only 19 and he's only going to get better the more he plays.

"I didn't think he saw me for the goal to be honest but it was a great goal from good football and I was delighted to be able to put it in the bottom corner.

"I don't know what more I could want really from today, working hard, playing well and scoring live on the telly. That's all I want.

"Now we just need to keep the momentum going. The players all buy into the manager's system of working hard and pressing the ball and I really think teams will find that hard to deal with."

Elsewhere, right-back Elliott Hewitt was an unused sub as the Wales U21s drew 2-2 in Finland in their penultimate Euro 2015 qualifier.

Geraint Williams’s side face Lithuania in their final match in Alytus on Tuesday.

Photo: Action Images

Cakeman added 08:30 - Sep 6 NoelTheDub, fully agree with your comments. Frank could do very well at Coventry not because it is a drop in level but because the ball is played on the grass and he should receive plenty of quality balls in from the wings. Whether he can consistently perform well is questionable but at least Coventry will give him an opportunity to do so. Good luck Frank.
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carlo88 added 08:42 - Sep 6 Cakeman - totally agree. Even a poor striker is better with decent service from the midfield. I thought Nouble played well and his finish showed he has got a deft touch. Just further proof that our problems aren't to do with strikers, they're to do with the dreadful midfield.
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bluelady added 09:09 - Sep 6 Good grief he scores a goal and some of our fans are making out he is Messi! I don't doubt some are the same fans that slatted him when playing for Mick!! A top guy who was a great character to have at town but sadly just not a quality footballer and not a patch on Murphy or Mcgoldrick, I bet by Christmas he has 2/3 goals max. Good luck Frank!
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Pip50 added 09:24 - Sep 6 Taylor, Woody, Marriott, now Big Frank doing well under new Managers and Clubs. Common theme here. Please go now Mr Dinosaur.
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yorksblue added 09:38 - Sep 6 Wonder how many of the 28000 will be around for the next game. "Massive club" do me a favour
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bluemikey100 added 09:42 - Sep 6 league 1 teams not that bad look at wolves now already beaten 3 ex premiership teams since coming up and we lost in cup game to crawley
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 09:45 - Sep 6 yorksblue: You beat me to it. Amazing how a club suddenly becomes "massive" when a player moves there. However, I wish Frank all the best and hope he does well. Rotherham must be pretty "massive" now, given so they have attracted so many of our players.
1

sereneblue added 09:45 - Sep 6 It seems that when one of our players goes on loan, all be it in a lower division, they seem to shine. Probably McCarthy should take a good look at himself before shipping out these young lads. Spot the common denominator!
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purplealien added 09:51 - Sep 6 This is worth a read........ http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sport/football/look-match-report-coventry-1-772 A few quotes: ....the stadium erupted with just nine minutes and 35 seconds on the clock when the midfielder fed flame-haired wing-back Haynes who cut into the box and pulled a smart ball back for Nouble who coolly slotted into the bottom corner to give the home side a sensation start. The strike was the fastest debut goal since Gary Gardner in 2011.... ......played the ball into to Nouble who hit a clever back-heel to tee up Conor Thomas who couldn't quite beat goalkeeper...... Nouble delighted the fans by juggling the ball as he wriggled free on the edge of the box..... The loan star was taken off just before the hour mark, walking off to all-round applause from the fans

3

yorksblue added 09:57 - Sep 6 Steve_ITFC Sweden Rotherham wouldn't dare call themselves "Massive" in the shadow of Sheffield
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JWM added 09:57 - Sep 6 Wow suddenly he scores a goal and now he's a world beater! Good grief!
0

jas0999 added 10:21 - Sep 6 Thought he was excellent. Brilliant classy finish. Of course it was a great ball in to him, something he and our other strikers don't usually get from the midfield, who remain negative and lacking in creativity.
4

BillBlue added 10:35 - Sep 6 No one has mentioned it other than in purplealiens report but from those of you whon saw the match why was he subbed after 59 minutes? Any obvious reasons?
1

AbujaBlue added 10:40 - Sep 6 I would be careful about mocking Coventry's 'massiveness', we are in no position to comment when it comes to attendances. I'm so glad Nouble got off to a great start at Coventry. Nouble has long become the scapegoat for a stubborn few on here, very much like McGoldrick was to Forest fans before he was shipped out on loan. But guess what? Players change and players improve (young especially), so we need to be patient and let him adapt to his new central role at Coventry (as opposed to on the wings here) and see what comes of him. He's still our player after all.

5

TimmyH added 10:55 - Sep 6 Well done Frank on scoring on your debut - always good for the confidence. As a few others have already said, he's probably found his level. If you have the commitment Frank has he'll always fit in at a certain level but I feel the Championship was probably too much for him. Great crowd there last night 28,000!! - makes us look a bit silly when we get 3,000 less for our first derby game in over 3 years.

7

NoelTheDub added 11:12 - Sep 6 Yes Frank is not a great player,yes coventry are league 1 but he goes and scores a goal that our strikers cant do,why? because they were balanced had a bit of width play it on the ground when they can and not afraid to go forward.FACT,something we are lacking on all fronts, because our manager refuses to address or only if its forced upon him.Iv yet to see a team at any level playing like us and to see any of our players good or bad enjoying their freedom from the handcuffs that is stopping players expressing the little bit of talant the might hold is a sad reflection on us.Dont knock league 1 or 2 or 3 for that matter but look at ourselves and where we are on the pitch and off something wrong bigtime and if we are not careful we will be played off the pitch by a poor league 1 team well thats what people on here seem to think league 1 is....

4

Michael11 added 11:42 - Sep 6 I think Frank will be a very good striker in League One. He's just not good enough for Championship football at the minute. He could quite easily come back a new player if he finds confidence and gains first team experience there.
5

TheSelkirk added 12:05 - Sep 6 Ignoring the various arguments about MM, loans, management, coaching, bias, favourites etc etc.. it is great to see Frank enjoying his football, playing freely and having the added bonus of scoring. Really pleased for him.
4

MattinLondon added 12:20 - Sep 6 At the risk of sounding negative , I would say that most players have had one good game in their career in which they have looked better than what they are. The question is can frank reproduce this form on a weekly basis. Even if the battering ram role was forced upon him by MM I haven't seen much in Noubles armoury suggesting that he is better technically than what he is. Good luck to him I hope he comes back better

2

tractorboybig added 12:38 - Sep 6 What a sad lot. Scores a goal at some other teams place and we have two pages of debate! Who gives a F what he does at coventry he is not good enough for this club.
-7

theobald1985 added 12:44 - Sep 6 Fat_Boy_Tim the diffrence is that people feel that marriot and taylor have not been given a proper chance whereas with nouble he has been given plenty of chances and not done it for us. he may mature and become a good player but there is no way he deserved the chances he got in the first team ahead of marriot or taylor and thats what annoys people. Hope he goes on to have a good season

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yorksblue added 12:44 - Sep 6 That's probably because there's nothing happening here and we're anxious for news...Something like MM has resigned or a rich Arab has taken over.
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NoelTheDub added 14:10 - Sep 6 Tractorboybig So Conor Salmon is better than no goals Nouble they are identical at best.We are not replacing the lads that are turfed out with better thats the crooks of our problem.The little bit of skill Nouble aside we have is been frozen out its not Micks style.
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Bluetone added 18:36 - Sep 6 Stay there Frank and help Coventry win promotion to the Championship. If only Frank and the loanees to Rotherham help their teams to be better than McCarthy's team we might just get shot of the dinosaur and start to play proper football again.
1

runningout added 21:07 - Sep 6 so many experts on here!!!
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