Sideways Sammy

Coventry City return to Hillsborough for FA Cup action, having successfully navigated the same awkward assignment in the league last week. The Sky Blues will know what to expect from Sheffield Wednesday, but so too will their opponents, which could well make this a tight, attritional contest unless either side has unearthed a significant weakness in the other that they can take advantage of.

With Coventry City going so well in the league, the key question heading into this game is just how seriously Mark Robins is going to take the FA Cup. A strong team selection against Oxford United in the Third Round indicated that the cup hasn’t been written off in the manager’s typical manner, however, with a league game against Bristol City this coming midweek, that could well end up being the priority as the Sky Blues look to preserve their current top six status.

Expected Line-Up

Even if Mark Robins is minded to rest as many key players as possible, there aren’t too many options to do so. Milan van Ewijk is pretty much the only option at right-back, while Kasey Palmer, Callum O’Hare and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto are the only attacking midfield options. When it comes to rotation at the moment, there are only really a few positions that can be changed around.

Ben Wilson starting as the designated cup goalkeeper looks pretty much certain, with Milan van Ewijk and Bobby Thomas also heavily likely to start ahead of him in defence. Jake Bidwell and Liam Kitching could be taken out of the starting line-up, depending on how keen the manager is to get minutes into Jay Dasilva and Luis Binks as the back-up players at left-back and left centre-back, respectively.

In midfield, Ben Sheaf is probably the only key player who could be handed a rest, with Josh Eccles and Jamie Allen more than capable of stepping into the two deeper central midfield positions. Victor Torp may also be a consideration to come into the starting XI, but that depends on what the assessment is on his fitness levels having arrived at the club in pre-season mode. Torp will probably end up making his debut here from the bench.

Unless Haji Wright is fit enough after returning to training this week, those three attacking midfield positions behind Matt Godden in attack look set. The only consideration may be to bring Ellis Simms in to play wide and hand either Kasey Palmer or Tatsuhiro Sakamoto a rest, but he could well be started up front in order to get going in front of goal.

Last Time We Met

Casting our minds back to the eternity of less than a week ago, Coventry City managed to show their quality in tough conditions to beat Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough. In a scrappy affair, made tougher by the quality of the pitch and a whistle-happy referee, the Sky Blues, via Ben Sheaf, managed to produce the two moments of class to take it away from Wednesday.

In the first-half, Ben Sheaf managed to curl in a lovely effort from the edge of the penalty area to put Coventry ahead. In the second, Sheaf was there to round off a well-executed breakaway that he had started to make things comfortable. Some of that comfort was reduced when Sheffield Wednesday mustered a goal back after they loaded the penalty area and Josh Windass eventually finished, however, the home side struggled to conjure much from that point onwards to put the final destination points under much doubt.

The Opposition

The Manager – Danny Röhl

Having made such a positive impact in his first few months at Sheffield Wednesday, back-to-back defeats in the league have highlighted that Danny Röhl still faces an uphill challenge to delivery safety to a side who looked clearly the worst team in the division prior to his arrival. Five points adrift of the dotted line in the bottom three, just how much of a priority progress in the Cup seems will be for Röhl to decide but it seems he is leaning towards rotating his team for this game.

As was apparent during the two previous meetings between these two teams, Sheffield Wednesday under Danny Röhl have the ability to cause problems with the intensity of their pressing. The issue has been finding ways to get the team’s best players into areas from which they can consistently create and score chances. Röhl has yet to find the right balance to his starting line-up and that has led to some of the team’s inconsistency over the past month.

Who To Look Out For?

This game could well be an opportunity for Danny Rohl to nail down those key combinations ahead of the business end of the campaign. In Barry Bannan, Josh Windass, Anthony Musaba and Bailey Cadamarteri, Sheffield Wednesday have some dangerous attacking options and it looks to be a case of figuring out how to get those four players operating in their most effective areas at the same time.

The energy of Bailey Cadamarteri and Anthony Musaba in attacking areas has been a key source of inspiration for Sheffield Wednesday under Danny Rohl, although they are both young players who are a touch inconsistent. Josh Windass and Barry Bannan are more experienced, reliable players, however, it has been difficult for Wednesday to figure out where to deploy either player, with Windass somewhere between a striker, winger and attacking midfielder and Bannan’s passing ability being pretty much unparalleled outside of the Premier League but lacking the mobility to either join the team’s pressing game in an advanced role or to plug defensive holes when utilised deeper.

This game could also be an opportunity for Danny Röhl to get recent attacking signing, Ike Ugbo, integrated into the starting XI. Ugbo showed last week that he can cause problems attacking the ball in the penalty area, with his presence a key part of Sheffield Wednesday’s consolation goal, the question surrounding him is whether he offers enough outside the area to fit into the team’s style. Alternatively, this could be a chance for the hard-working, Ashley Fletcher, to find some form in attack.

As for the defensive side of the team, Sheffield Wednesday could really do with settling on a back four and holding midfielder. It is unfortunate for them that recent addition in goal, James Beadle, is cup-tied as this would have been a valuable opportunity for him to gel with his new team-mates, with second-choice, Cameron Dawson, injured, that leaves youngster, Pierce Charles, will have to start in goal.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

It looks likely that Mark Robins will deploy the stronger starting XI out of the two managers, but that doesn’t mean that progress is assured. One of the key concerns about the likely starting line-up for Coventry City in this game is whether cup goalkeeper, Ben Wilson, is good enough in possession to keep play ticking over at the back against a heavy pressing Sheffield Wednesday outfit. The home side will continue to get in the Sky Blues’ faces when building from deep and that one change could unsettle the rhythm this team has in doing so.

With Sheffield Wednesday looking to test out one or two youngsters at the back, isolating them against the likes of Kasey Palmer, Callum O’Hare and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto looks a potential source of joy here for Coventry City. Given how Wednesday commit bodies forward to support their pressing style, there will be opportunities to quickly go from the defensive half of the pitch to the attacking one, catching the hosts on the hop unless they are immaculate in their pressing.