Aberdeen born-and-bred defender Michael Rose says he will be ready if called upon in Coventry City’s Wembley play-off showdown with Luton Town.
The Sky Blues are one game away from securing their return to the English Premier League after 22 years away, having finished fifth in the Championship before beating Middlesbrough in the play-off semi final.
Being one game from the dizzying heights of English football’s top table reflects the meteoric rise for Mark Robins’ side, who were playing League Two football as recently as 2018.
Bridge of Don-raised Rose, 27, made the move down south in 2019 after leaving Ayr United, having joined the Somerset Park outfit after being released by Aberdeen in 2016, following just one senior appearance for the Dons.
In his first season at Coventry, Rose helped the Sky Blues get their hands on the English League One trophy and has gone on to make 70 appearances for the club in the Championship.
Although Coventry are on the verge of a seismic return to the wealthiest league in world football, the second-half of this campaign has proven to be a challenging period for Rose.
He has fallen out of favour since the turn of the year and has not been named in the match-day squad since his last substitute appearance against Stoke City on April 1.
“It’s been pretty tough to be honest,” said Rose, who is out of contract this summer.
“A few things have went on which I wont go into, but it’s been tough. I’ve just tried to keep myself right and ready.
“More so for my team-mates because some of us have been here for four years together, I’m so happy for them and for us getting to where we are.
“That’s all I’ve thought about – making sure I’m ready if I get called upon, and making sure I do the right things to help my team-mates during the week as well.”
A ‘crazy’ four years as Coventry on ‘surreal’ cusp of Premier League
Despite a difficult spell of late, Rose does look back on his time at Coventry so far with pride.
He might not have been involved on the pitch in his side’s recent surge towards the Premier League, but Rose has certainly played his part in the club’s journey over the past four years.
“It’s been pretty crazy,” said Rose.
“When I first came down to Coventry, I probably didn’t think this would happen. Even winning League One in the first season was a bit of a shock for me.
“I was playing in the Championship after a year and that was all a bit surreal from where I’ve come from at Ayr.
“Every season we’ve got better and better and slowly progressed. We knew how hard it would be to get in the play-offs, but it was always our goal.
“It came to this year, when we thought: ‘why not?’, and that’s the thing with the Championship – any team can go on a good run and then you’re just one league away from the Premier League.
“You just need to have that good season, and, thankfully for us, we’ve had it.
“It does feel a bit surreal to get to Wembley and I don’t know if it has quite sunk in yet. It probably won’t until we get down there for the game.”
Leaving boyhood club the Dons turned out to be ‘perfect’ for Rose – but return would be ‘brilliant’
As a lifelong Dons fan and then a player at the club, Aberdeen was all Rose had ever known – other than a loan spell at Forfar Athletic – before his release in 2016.
But his disappointment at leaving the club has long been forgotten as the defender has paved a successful career for himself elsewhere.
“Don’t get me wrong, it (playing for Aberdeen) was all I wanted to do and I was desperate to do it,” said Rose.
“When you’re from the area, support the club and your family supports the club, then you’ve always got that pressure – it’s always there even if people aren’t putting it on you.
“You’re always trying to make people happy and proud.
“It was hard at the time getting told I would be leaving the club, but it was the perfect thing that happened to me.”
Ayr was his first post-Dons destination, and although it didn’t get off to the best start with relegation from the Championship in 2017, Rose still knew he had made the right decision.
He would go on to win the Scottish League One title the following season, before a successful campaign in the Championship where The Honest Men reached the Premiership play-offs.
His success at Somerset Park earned him a move down south, which also vindicated his Pittodrie departure.
“I wouldn’t have changed anything,” said Rose.
“I was quite keen to move away and try something different. It was one of the biggest reasons why I chose Ayr because I knew I would be moving down to Glasgow and that sort of helped me grow up a bit.
“Looking back, it was the perfect thing for me to do. It was the right decision.
“I’ve progressed as a player and got better because I’ve been playing.”
With his future at Coventry uncertain and his deal set to expire, Rose expects contract conversations to be had when the club know what division they are playing in next season – but he has not ruled out a return to Pittodrie… sometime in the future.
“I’d like to (return) one day,” said Rose. “But, to be honest, I’d like to stay down in England because I’ve really enjoyed it.
“I’ve always wanted to come down here even when I was young. I’d like to stay down here for a few more years.
“It would be brilliant to come back to Aberdeen at some point, if they would take me back.”
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