Sideways Sammy

Not finishing Sheffield Wednesday off in the FA Cup on Friday night adds an unwanted extra fixture to Coventry City’s schedule at a time when they are looking to increase their stranglehold on a top six position. The focus returns to the league this week, as the Sky Blues put their unbeaten run up against two tricky opponents, in Bristol City and Norwich City, with little margin for error if they want to maintain their current standing in the Championship table.

First up is a Bristol City side that has shown they can be awkward opponents of late for strong teams in both this division and the one above. They may be in 13th place, but they are only six points off the Sky Blues and will view this fixture as an important opportunity to maintain their interest in the play-offs as the season enters its pre-business end stage. This is not a game to be taken lightly.

Expected Line-Up

While Mark Robins didn’t get the result he wanted on Friday night, in resting a handful of key players and getting some important minutes into Haji Wright and Victor Torp, the fixture can be deemed a success on at least one front. Additionally, the reversion to a three at the back formation failing to come off successfully will have underlined to the manager that the current 4-2-3-1 set-up is the best one to utilise for the remainder of the campaign.

After Callum O’Hare and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto were handed a night off on Friday, expect the duo to return to the starting XI for this game, along with Milan van Ewijk and Bobby Thomas, who came on from the bench in the second half. Mark Robins looks set to revert to a similar starting line-up to the last league game against Sheffield Wednesday, rather than the FA Cup tie, with there only looking to be major decisions to be made in one or two positions.

Those major decisions are unlikely to involve Victor Torp, despite his stunning debut goal on Friday night, as fitness remains a concern with the January signing. Instead, it looks to be a call between Kasey Palmer or Haji Wright to play on the left of the forward line and between Matt Godden and Ellis Simms in the centre-forward role.

Kasey Palmer will probably be preferred to Haji Wright in order to ease the workload on the club record signing after his recent return from injury. At centre-forward, the issue is that neither Matt Godden nor Ellis Simms are making particularly strong cases to be considered the outright favourite for the role. Given that Mark Robins seems to trust Godden more than Simms, expect the former to be given at least another game or two as first choice to see if he can get among the goals.

Last Time We Met

It was during the frustrating phase of a few months ago where Coventry City were playing pretty well but were a bad combination of toothless in front of goal and brittle at the back that ultimately inspired Mark Robins into the switch in system that has led to the team’s current strong run of form. At Ashton Gate, the Sky Blues were on top for much of the first-half, only to be undone by Bristol City taking the lead from a set-piece just before half-time.

Concerningly, falling behind did nothing to inspire a threat from Coventry, as they went through the motions in the second-half before limping meekly to defeat in a game where they were the better team in at 0-0.

The Opposition

The Manager – Liam Manning

Having progressed through the coaching set-ups at West Ham United and Manchester City, Liam Manning has carved himself out a reputation as one of the smartest young English coaches around. After enjoying an excellent first season in EFL management with Milton Keynes Dons, as they narrowly missed out on automatic promotion from League One, he struggled to rebuild the team, got sacked, helped Oxford United stay in the same division, and had the U’s chasing promotion before he got the call to replace Nigel Pearson at Ashton Gate.

It’s been a mixed start for Liam Manning at Bristol City, starting slowly but with the recent win over West Ham United in the FA Cup demonstrating what the manager might be able to achieve once he gets his feet under the desk. Manning is a pragmatic coach who will tailor his style based on his available resources and the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition. At the moment, the approach has been based on aggressive defending, counter-attacking, and a threat from set-pieces.

Who To Look Out For?

The first move that Liam Manning has made in the transfer market since joining Bristol City has been bringing in his star player from his Milton Keynes Dons side, Scott Twine, on a loan that looks set to become permanent in the summer. The attacking midfielder scored on his debut, although from a header, which is very much not what his game is about. A player who loves to shoot with venom at any and every opportunity and an excellent set-piece taker, Twine has yet to fully demonstrate what he is capable in the Championship on a consistent basis but it feels like he will benefit from being given a clear run in the side at Bristol City.

The other star name in this Bristol City side right now is Tommy Conway in attack, who has played his way into form of late. The academy-produced striker had enjoyed something of a breakout year last time out but started the new campaign slowly; however, his energy off-the-ball and finishing knack have allowed him to get among the goals again in recent months, making him an awkward and effective presence in attack.

The rest of the Bristol City side is largely made up of consistent and ferociously hard-working pros. Matty James and Joe Williams in central midfield are a good blend of forceful and intelligent in possession. Jason Knight is another hard worker playing just in front of them, with Taylor Gardner-Hickman capable of slotting into a number of midfield and wide roles to add to the team’s energy levels.

At the back, Bristol City is looking like an increasingly well-organized and tough-to-break-down team. While some of that comes from how hard the midfield and attack work off the ball, players like Cameron Pring, George Tanner, Zak Vyner, and Rob Dickie have proven to be reliable performers who rarely switch off and allow gaps for opponents to exploit. With a lead to protect, this Bristol City side has shown they are pretty reliable in seeing results out.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

The specific relevant content for this request, if necessary, delimited with characters: Not that there are games where a team wants to fall behind in, but this feels like one that is especially important not to. Bristol City’s energy and aggression look well-suited to frustrating a Coventry City side that has often struggled to break teams down through extended spells of possession, which would be a particular issue if the Sky Blues were to fall a goal down. This could be one of the first games Coventry have faced since getting into this run of form where an opponent sets out to shut down and frustrate them; expect Bristol City to be ready to give cynical fouls away to stop the home side from getting counter-attacks going.

If this game ends up becoming a niggly, attritional contest, the danger here is that Bristol City have the ability to nick a goal from a set-piece through the excellent delivery of Scott Twine or, even more simply, from Twine scoring a belter from long-range. Coventry City have to be careful to avoid giving away set-pieces in their own half, which is something this team can struggle with, or allowing Twine space to shoot around the penalty area.

Patience is likely to be key here, with Ben Sheaf likely to have an important role to play in setting the tone in possession and looking to find gaps with bigger passes out wide. The trump card Coventry City may have here is the ability to bring on either Haji Wright or Kasey Palmer from the bench, along with Victor Torp, to add an injection of inspiration and energy later on. Making sure the game is at least level up to the 60-70 minute mark would not be a terrible strategy here.“