Ben Wilson believes the Coventry City faithful can be the extra push they need to retain their Premier League status this season.
The Sky Blues earned their first top-flight victory in 25 years when they beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 just before the international break, quelling early fears following four straight defeats to start their first Premier League season since 2001.
A brilliant 4-1 win at home against Newcastle followed and despite back-to-back defeats against Tottenham and Fulham, Wilson recognises the power of the Coventry faithful backing their side throughout the start of their historic first season back.
And the goalkeeper, who is one of Coventry’s longest-serving players after arriving in 2019, believes that continued support will be crucial if they are to retain their Premier League status and hopes the vociferous noise will continue all campaign.
“I’ve always said the fans were the 12th man and if you’ve got them on your side, they just push you,” he said.
“We always talk about the little one per cents in football and I think they add that one per cent. Hopefully it will keep pushing us on.
“At the Brighton game, we were 5-0 down but the fans were singing their hearts out for the last 10 minutes of the game.
“I think it just shows how much they appreciate us being here, and what it actually means to them.
“Little things like that make you appreciate what it actually means for everyone, and I'm a football fan myself, so to be a part of that feeling, and being part of the club's journey back to the Premier League, has been amazing.
“It's certainly special for the fans, and, like I say, we want to be able to give them something to continue cheering about.”
Wilson has almost seen it all as part of Coventry’s rise back through the ranks, joining ahead of the club’s promotion from League One in the 2019/20 season.
Seven seasons in the Championship followed before the Sky Blues finally returned to the top-flight under Frank Lampard.
It is the first time Wilson has been part of a Premier League squad as a senior player, having cut his teeth at Sunderland, and the 34-year-old is thrilled to have reached the zenith of English football with a club so close to his heart.
And Wilson admitted the magnitude of the achievement for both himself and the club hit home as he sat on the bench against Arsenal during Coventry’s opening match of the season.
He added: “I was on the bench against Arsenal, and the feeling of sitting there, watching Rushy [Carl Rushworth] - who I admire so much - and knowing that if he pulls a muscle or if he gets sent off, then I'm on the pitch, and you're playing in the Premier League.
“I remember having those butterflies just sitting there all game, from minute one to the 90th minute, I never calmed down once.
“That's what excites me the most about being a part of football, and that's what you're missing, as nervous as it is, and as pressurising as it is, it's an amazing feeling.
“You're part of something special, and being a part of it for a number of years now; from where we came, when I first joined, in League One, to being in the Premier League now, is nothing short of amazing.”
Official club Training Partners Coventry Building Society helped mark the club’s return to the Premier League by taking some of the club’s players into a time vault from the year 2001.
Players were thrown back in time through items such as a PlayStation 1, Game Boy and even an old Argos catalogue, all things Wilson remembers from his childhood.
As one of the elder statesmen of the Coventry dressing room, he could also remember Coventry’s previous time as a top-flight club and is determined to ensure they stay there this season.
He said: “I remember the last time. Gary McAllister, Gordon Strachan, [Mustapha] Hadji, Chris Kirkland.
“I have a lot of memories of the club in the Premier league. It is a Premier league team by heart and we deserve to be there.”
Coventry Building Society is the Official Training Partner of Coventry City
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