Tributes are being paid to former Premier League player and Belgium international Cedric Roussel

Coventry City have paid tribute to former striker Cedric Roussel after a shock death at the age of just 45.

Roussel suffered a fatal heart attack this afternoon back home in Belgium, where local press say he had been sitting on a terrace in Grote Markt, Mons. Emergency services arrived quickly and tried resuscitation but it did not work.

In a post on social media, Coventry wrote: “Coventry City are deeply saddened to learn of the death of our former striker Cedric Roussel, at the age of just 45. Cedric played 43 games for the Sky Blues from 1999-2001, scoring 11 goals. Our condolences are with his family and friends at this very sad time.”

Another of Roussel’s old clubs, RAEC Mons had broken the news with the message: “We would like to convey our deepest sympathy to the family and loved ones of Roussel. Thank you Cédric, you have left your mark on our club history.”

The Belgium national team account added: “We send our condolences to the family and friends of Cedric Roussel.

Roussel had been a prolific forward for La Louviere before joining Coventry in the Premier League via Gent, initially on loan before sealing a £1.2million permanent switch.

He had an encouraging debut season alongside Robbie Keane, including two goals against Manchester United, but injuries held him back in his second term and he was sold to Wolves for about £2m.

He went on to play for a series of clubs including Genk, Standard Liege and Mons and he picked up three caps for Belgium.

The two sides shared a 1-1 draw for the second time in 2023

Liam Rosenior has called on Hull City to make the MKM Stadium a venue away teams do not enjoy coming to and that was apparent again on Friday night, as Coventry City escaped with just a point. Joel Latibeaudiere’s header midway through the first half looked to have secured a first away win of the campaign for the Sky Blues, until Aaron Connolly’s deft header three minutes from time earned a share of the spoils.

Latibeaudiere was given the freedom of the penalty box to head in Josh Eccles’ near post corner only for Tyler Morton to step off the bench and fashion an opening which Connolly converted expertly in the closing stages. That point salvaged from the jaws of defeat kept City’s unbeaten home run going in the early weeks of the season while ensuring it’s now just two defeats in 15 games Rosenior has taken charge of at the MKM Stadium.

In a bid to create more in the final third this season, Rosenior has been forced to sacrifice some of the defensive strength his side had last term, and that’s an area the Sky Blues looked to exploit, according to the Jamaican, who only returned from international duty with his country in the hours before the trip to East Yorkshire.

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“It’s a tough place to come here to Hull,” he said. “It’s just about turning those draws into wins now and we’ve got another big away game coming up at Cardiff and if we get three points there, this turns into a really good point for us. It was a tough game. Hull play really good football and we knew that coming in. I’ve just got back from international football not long ago, so I was going through the clips last night, so I found it really tough.

“I thought we were good in parts of it. We just turned the ball over a bit too much tonight and we didn’t penetrate them enough with the passes. But still we had chances to go two nil up and that’s what we’re waiting for at the minute. I think if we go two up, we kill the game.

“We kept turning the ball over too much. We kept trying to almost score every time we had the ball to try and counterattack them. We knew they were vulnerable on the counterattack because of how expansive they like to play. But they were really good in possession and they switched the ball, they overloaded on midfield and they pinned us back in.

“But we were winning one nil up to 85 minutes and we were comfortably in the game. We switch off for one minute we don’t come out when we clear the ball we stay in there and it’s a great goal to be fair.”