Coleman or Keano; After talking to the Sky Blues and Ipswich, defender Wood must decide if he will join...: Wood to decide on City offer.

Byline: Andy Turner 

COVENTRY CITY appear to be in the box seat to sign Sheffield Wednesday's Richard Wood after he spent yesterday at the club discussing a possible move.

The central defender met Sky Blues boss Chris Coleman, his staff and some of the players at the Ryton training ground before he and his agent held talks about personal terms with chairman Ray Ranson at the Ricoh Arena.

However, City are not the only club in for the 24-year-old, who they are trying to sign on loan with a view to a permanent deal in January, with Ipswich Town keen on securing his services.

The Leeds-born player has been on Wednesday's books since he was a boy and the move away from Yorkshire will be a big one which he wants to get right for his family, so location could be a key factor in clinching the deal for the Sky Blues.

If it comes down to money then Ipswich could possibly be able to offer him higher wages. But the pressure has been on Ipswich boss Roy Keane, whose side are second bottom of the Championship, and while the Sky Blues are only five points above the Tractorboys they are not yet in a relegation battle.

Coleman's urgency to get Wood ahead of Saturday's game with Crystal Palace is heightened by ongoing injury problems.

"We have got no Ben Turner, noS Isaac Osbourne, who will be out until at least Christmas, so it has been an absolute nightmare in terms of injuries," he said.

"We are going to miss Isaac, who has arguably been our best central midfielder since we lost Sammy Clingan.

"He has got bad bone bruising on his knee and for him not to play there has got to be something wrong. Danny Fox had it last year and it is a condition that you can play with it but it can lead to something else, while Ben has done his ankle and that's six weeks.

"Stephen Wright has got bad bruising on his foot and if he plays on Saturday he is going to need an injection, and Marcus Hall is still not 100 per cent fit but we could do with his experience."

He added: "We don't know about Keiren Westwood yet andwewill see howhe reacts to training this week but I won't be uncomfortable with Dimi because he hasn't done a lot wrong, so I willwait to see how he feels. "We have got Besty and Jack Cork to come back from international duty and Aron Gunnarsson trained this week after playing 70 minutes for Iceland at the weekend." As for midfielder Sammy Clingan's progress, Coleman feels he needs a game before making a return to the first team, saying: "It would be hard to put Sammy straight back into the team because he is still sore and he is going to need at least one reserve game because it is a long time he has been out. "He steadies the ship for us and dictates in the midfield, so we have missed tha

CAPTION(S):

TUG OF WAR... Chris Coleman and Roy Keane (left) are battling for the signature of Sheffield Wednesday defender Richard Wood (inset).