Coventry City midfielder Josh Eccles has vowed to “take with both hands” the opportunity granted to him by Gustavo Hamer joining Sheffield United.

Hamer moved to the Premier League team this summer in a permanent £15 million transfer, having been one of the Sky Blues’ standout players in recent years. His exit opened up a chance for Eccles to break into the team and prove himself to supporters, and the 23-year-old believes he is doing just that.

Speaking about stepping in to replace Hamer, Eccles told Coventry City’s club website : “Now obviously he’s left a spot for me to take with both hands and try and show the fans what I can do and what I’m capable of and hopefully I’m doing that so far. I’ll always play wherever I get told to play, as long as I’m on the pitch I’m happy.”

Reflecting on the 1-1 draw against Swansea City over the weekend, Eccles said: “That’s the first time I’ve been involved, at Swansea away, and we’ve had the majority of the ball and that’s what we’re trying to do this year, keep the ball for longer and play from the back, through the midfield and obviously use the strikers that have got a real talent.

“At least we’re creating the chances wherever they are. We had a few chances outside the box some inside the box we just couldn’t get a shot off.

“I think we got down the sides very well (on Saturday). Obviously, we tried to cross in the box, had a lot of corners and had a lot of chances from the corners, but we just couldn’t take them.

“(Matty Godden’s) goal was good, we had about 20/30 passes and then you know and then it’s a great lay off from Haji and then Godders as you know is a great finisher and when he shoots he normally scores.

“I’ve always said he is the best finisher I’ve ever played with and I stand by it. As soon as he gets his first goal, he just goes and goes and goes and that says something about Matty.”

Swansea’s Jerry Yates scored an equaliser for Swansea just two minutes after Godden’s opener, something Eccles and his Coventry teammates are ruing as they dropped two points in south Wales.

“It was a bad goal to concede,” Eccles added. “I think we just switched off for a couple seconds and give them a chance to break down the left and then the header just looped in slow motion, so it was disappointing.”