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Jason Roberts made when he signed from Blackburn Rovers in January, winning eight straight games.

He scored three goals in his first four matches and his arrival added new impetus to a team that had already cast aside their mediocre early-season form and started to charge up the Championship table.

He slotted straight in and formed an instant rapport with fellow forward Noel Hunt, whose form improved playing alongside Roberts. Striker Simon Church had waited patiently for his chance most of last season and must have thought his time had come once Shane Long was sold to West Brom in the summer. Church found himself back on the bench after the arrival of Roberts but and his impact at the club.

"He has been a catalyst to really kick us on," said Church. "He is the nicest guy ever."

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Gael Bigirimana was walking to the supermarket with his brother to buy some milk when he spotted Coventry City's academy training facility.

The following day he went there and asked for a trial. Slightly bemused, the coaching staff looked at the smiling yet determined 11-year-old with the broken English and explained that the club did not just take on young players who turned up unannounced. He would have to be scouted like everybody else.

Running home afterwards, having left details of the school he attended and buoyed by the promise that somebody from Coventry would come to watch him play, Bigirimana was surprised when a member of the coaching staff stopped him.

"They asked if I had all the equipment, boots, shin pads and stuff like that," Bigirimana told ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Sport. "I said 'yes' but I did not. They said they saw me running fast but to tell you the truth I was jogging.

"The next day they gave me a trial. It was near the end of the season but they took me on for the following campaign. It must have been a miracle."

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