It was a day of two halves for Coventry City’s manager Gordon Strachan yesterday.

In the late afternoon he and chairman Bryan Richardson successfully completed the first half of the deal to buy Colin Hendry from Glasgow Rangers, but then he stayed on for what turned out to be a naff performance by the youth team.

Strachan sat squirming with frustration in the directors’ box as the under-18s squandered a great chance to move through to the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup.

Their opponents, Derby County, were reduced to nine men with thirty minutes left through two sendings off, but Coventry lacked the penetration to win the match and it finished 0-0. They now have to replay at Derby on 29 February and the odds are stacked against a second successive appearance in the Cup Final.

Hendry meanwhile is expected to complete his move from Glasgow Rangers some time on Thursday.

Bryan Richardson said:

"We believe we have agreed the player’s personal terms and now we have to agree a transfer fee with Glasgow Rangers. Colin will come down again on Thursday for his medical."

But the Chairman said that the player was unlikely to be fit enough to make his debut against Tottenham Hotspur at Highfield Road on Saturday.

Hendry has been troubled by injury this season and although he played as an over-age player in Rangers’ under-21 side midweek, he is not yet fully match fit.

His arrival will surely spark an exodus among the centrebacks. Coventry already have four central defenders, Richard Shaw, Gary Breen, Paul Williams and Mo Konjic.