Sideways Sammy

An impressive win on the road at Sunderland has demonstrated that Coventry City’s recent improvement has substance. Closer to the play-offs than the relegation zone at half-way, the Sky Blues have overcome a bumpy start and now have a clear playing style, established some key combinations and have a confidence in what they are doing. These are the ingredients for a strong second half of the campaign, with the challenge over the festive period to manage the fitness of a squad that is relatively thin in a few key areas in order to build on this current competitive mid-table position.

A home game against a struggling Sheffield Wednesday side in front of a packed-out crowd at the CBS Arena looks a big opportunity to put a winning run together. However, the South Yorkshire side have made improvements of their own of late and should not be underestimated in spite of their lowly league position. If concentration levels slip here, then the result could provide a step back from the recent spate of positivity.

Expected Line-Up

Coventry City fans should be wary over this festive period of describing any player taken out of the starting XI as being ‘dropped’. This is such a congested run of fixtures that the best chance of continuing to pick up points is to keep as many players as fresh as possible, which is likely to involve one or two otherwise nailed on starters being handed a breather from the bench. Picking up points over this next week will be as much about the strength of the squad as it is individual players.

Losing Ben Sheaf to a nasty head injury limits the amount of wiggle room that Mark Robins has to manage the minutes in the key area of central midfield. With Sheaf likely to miss the next two games, Jamie Allen and Josh Eccles look nailed-on starters, with Joel Latibeaudiere first back-up and Yasin Ayari there to possibly get one last opportunity to make an impression ahead of a likely recall to Brighton & Hove Albion in January.

In terms of unforced changes to the side, Callum O’Hare and Ellis Simms seem the strongest candidates to drop to the bench in order to manage the squad over these next three games. For O’Hare, his form of late should only serve to highlight the importance of keeping him as fresh and fit as possible, with Kasey Palmer’s recent injury return offering Mark Robins a valuable option to avoid burning O’Hare out. The consideration with Ellis Simms is more tactical, given that his ability to physically occupy centre-backs may be less useful compared to Matt Godden’s all-out finishing skill in a game where the team will see more of the ball than it has recently,

Last Time We Met

It was during the darkest depths of the Covid lockdown when Coventry City hosted Sheffield Wednesday at St Andrew’s, with both teams in need of a win to bolster their respective survival bids in the Championship. In a tight game on a pudding of a pitch, it was the Sky Blues who found the moment of quality to break the stalemate, with Callum O’Hare sliding Viktor Gyokeres in on goal to finish for the Swede’s first for the club.

There looked little danger to the final score from then on, with O’Hare again taking hold of proceedings when he wriggled free of the attention of the Sheffield Wednesday defence late on and found Jamie Allen, who slid the ball through Keiren Westwood’s legs in the to make it 2-0 and a rare comfortable win for Coventry City in their first season back at this level.

The Opposition

The Manager – Danny Röhl

After winning promotion from League One last season, Sheffield Wednesday owner, Dejphon Chansiri has done just about everything possible to kill any momentum from that by first allowing Darren Moore to leave as manager during the summer and then appointing Xisco Munoz as his replacement, who was quickly shown to be out of his depth with a squad that hadn’t looked to be adequately strengthened for the step up in quality. In appointing the young German coach, Danny Röhl, for his first managerial posting, the Owls have belatedly found the ability to be competitive at this level, the question now is whether it has come slightly too late to keep them in the division.

Having worked alongside former Southampton boss, Ralph Hasenhuttl, at RB Leipzig and Southampton, before joining in the German national set-up more recently, Röhl, is a progressive young manager committed to a positive, pressing style of play. Performances instantly improved under Röhl’s charge, but a lack of fitness often cost the team results. Wednesday have gradually build up their endurance levels and built some momentum of late, but the ability to keep that up over the congested festive fixture list could well make or break the Owls’ survival bid.

Who To Look Out For?

Sheffield Wednesday’s squad is currently a mish-mash between the experienced pros that got the club out of League One and a bunch of seemingly random foreign imports that were signed in a panic towards the end of the summer transfer window. The one genuine star that Wednesday look to have on their books is the Dutch winger, Anthony Musaba, who has found a consistent end product under the management of Danny Röhl and is key to providing a cutting edge to the team’s energetic pressing approach.

Another player who has caught the eye under Röhl has been academy graduate, Bailey Cadamarteri – yes, the son of Danny, who was once the Premier League’s youngest ever goalscorer – whose pace and finishing ability has provided the team with the inspiration to win tight games over the past month. In addition, former PSG youngster, Djeidi Gassama, is another quick attacking player who could cause problems here, although he can blow hot and cold. If Josh Windass is back fit for this game, then that could add further class to Wednesday’s attacking play, with the forward’s skill and industry on the ball providing genuine quality in the number ten role to make the team tick in the final third.

Barry Bannan remains a class act in a Sheffield Wednesday shirt, with the Scot’s passing ability pretty much second-to-none at this level of football. The challenge Wednesday have faced in recent years with Bannan has been to maximise that passing and set-piece ability while covering over his lack of mobility off the ball, with hard-runners like George Byers and Will Vaulks deployed alongside him to plug the holes in midfield.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

Coventry City will need to be prepared for an energetic start and end to the game from Sheffield Wednesday, given their desire to press the life out of opponents. Under Danny Röhl, they have tended to start games strongly as opponents have struggled to find a way to play around that initial press and then to use substitutes to generate a second wind later on. They may well relish looking to take advantage of the Sky Blues’ desire to play out from the back, with Brad Collins and the centre-backs having an important role to play here in finding angles to receive the ball and then attempt to move it around Wednesday’s press to evade pressure and then look to find opportunities further up the pitch. In that regard, Ben Sheaf’s absence could really be felt here as someone in midfield who can receive the ball with pressure on their back and distribute with accuracy.

Sheffield Wednesday’s positive mind-set provides the opportunity for Coventry City to pick them off at the other end, with Haji Wright, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and either Callum O’Hare or Kasey Palmer’s pace in open spaces capable of turning openings into chances. In particular, Barry Bannan’s lack of mobility off-the-ball provides the chance for whoever plays in the number ten role for the Sky Blues to make runs off the back of him and thread balls through to the wide men.