Sideways Sammy

Coventry City moved back into the top six at the weekend with a come-from-behind win against Millwall, but Tuesday night’s results means they will have to pick up another victory to hold onto that position. With two away trips on the cards this week, Mark Robins will have to find a happy balance between maintaining form and managing the squad to turn that three points on Sunday into a winning run.

The first of these two away trips, to Plymouth Argyle, looks the most testing, with Argyle the 9th-best home side in the division, despite sitting in lower mid-table. The Pilgrims will be keen to push further away from the relegation zone and possess the division’s second top-scorer, in Morgan Whittaker. If the Sky Blues can come out of this contest with all three points, they will have done well.

Expected Line-Up

Mark Robins could well be caught between the two issues of finding his preferred starting XI following January’s various upheavals while managing fitness levels. The team that finished the game against Millwall on Sunday looked a lot like the current strongest starting XI, with Bobby Thomas at the back, Joel Latibeaudiere paired with Victor Torp in central midfield and Haji Wright out on the left wing, but with the games coming thick and fast, don’t be surprised if there are some further changes made for this game.

The biggest call ahead of this match looks to be whether to restore Liam Kitching in central defence after his costly red card against Norwich City. In Kitching’s favour is that he is more experienced than Luis Binks and has a good understanding with his defensive colleagues, Bobby Thomas and Brad Collins. The case against Kitching is that Binks hasn’t really done much wrong in the former’s absence and the former Barnsley man possibly deserves a longer stay on the sidelines after getting himself sent off, which arguably cost the team at least a point in a key game against a play-off rival. It seems likelier that Kitching will get back into the team, but it’s not as certain as it was for his previous suspension.

Of the other calls, Josh Eccles versus Joel Latibeaudiere for the midfield spot alongside Victor Torp looks one of the more notable ones. While Eccles has more strings to his bow as a midfielder compared to Latibeaudiere, he hasn’t been playing that well of late with the sense that Torp’s attacking instincts alongside him leaves Eccles stretched, whereas Latibeaudiere is more comfortable with sitting in front of the defence and letting Torp do his thing.

With Haji Wright likely to be moved back to what appears to be his most effective left wing berth, and Ellis Simms set to take up the vacant centre-forward role, the attacking positions seem to pick themselves. However, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto on the right side could well be due a rest for either this game or the next one, given the rough treatment he’s come in for recently and the sense that his influence has declined a touch. That would leave Kasey Palmer as pretty much the only potential replacement for Sakamoto.

Additionally, with Jay Dasilva having looked exposed at left-back against Millwall, Jake Bidwell looks set to be restored to the starting line-up to help provide defensive security against an attack-minded Plymouth Argyle outfit.

Last Time We Met

In a low quality contest between a Coventry City side still searching for form at the back end of November and a Plymouth Argyle outfit that are rotten away from home, the Sky Blues edged their way to a narrow victory. Little of note happened until late in the second-half, when Milan van Ewijk turned on the afterburners to bomb towards the byline and cut the ball back for Haji Wright to finish. That goal came with controversy, however, as it appeared as if the ball may have gone out of play before Van Ewijk had produced the cut-back, which could well have contributed to the dithering in the Argyle back-line that opened things up for Wright.

The Opposition

The Manager – Ian Foster

Part of an influx of former England youth-team coaches that have earned first managerial jobs in the Championship this season, Ian Foster stepped up to the Plymouth Argyle hot-seat in the wake of Steven Schumacher’s departure to fellow strugglers, Stoke City. A former coach at Coventry City, who arrived immediately after Mark Robins’ first spell at the club, Foster has had to deal with a raft of players departing in the January transfer window and had done well to keep the points ticking over to put Argyle in a relatively safe position with a third of the season remaining.

Plymouth Argyle are a team built around playing quick, attacking football and have shown they have the ability to take on some of the best teams in the division at Home Park. Ian Foster has maintained that template, adding a number of very young players to fill the gaps in the squad that opened up in January. Argyle have maintained their tendency to be open at both ends of the pitch, which could well set up an entertaining contest here.

Who To Look Out For?

In Morgan Whittaker, Plymouth Argyle have a player that has very quickly stepped up as one of the best players in the Championship this season. Primarily a wide player, Whittaker loves to float inside into shooting positions and attempt what can seem the impossible. The second top-scorer in the division, with a large proportion of those goals being long-range bombs, Whittaker is the type of player who could win this game from nothing for Argyle.

While Whittaker has rightly drawn a lot of attention for his performances this season, credit should be given to Ryan Hardie for hitting double-figures from centre-forward in his first year at Championship level. A not particularly physical player who has largely been used as a lone striker, Hardie’s work-rate, intelligence and finishing ability has seen him snaffle some key goals to keep Argyle’s heads above water.

The supply line for Whittaker and Hardie is led by the rapidity of Bali Mumba, who can play in either of the wing-back berths, who can stretch teams out wide to open up space in the centre for the deadly attacking duo. In addition, promising Leeds United youngster, Darko Gyabi’s, ball-playing ability since joining on loan in January has allowed the team to overcome the dual losses of key creators Finn Azaz and Luke Cundle, while the veteran, Adam Forshaw, alongside Gyabi has proved a shrewd addition to steer the team through games.

At the back, Ashley Phillips has been another impressive January addition out of Ian Foster’s England youth-team contact book. The former Blackburn Rovers youngster, recruited on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, has exuded class since arriving in January, looking both a strong physical competitor and composed on the ball. Fellow centre-backs, Julio Pleguezuelo and Lewis Gibson, are also a good blend of physical and composed, making for a classy Argyle back-line, albeit an overworked one due to the team’s attacking instincts.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

The prospect of a team actively looking to take the game to Coventry City is, in a sense, a welcome one, as it provides the opportunity for players like Victor Torp, Callum O’Hare, Haji Wright and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto to devastate on the counter-attack, however, the Sky Blues only need to look as far back as the first 20 minutes of Sunday’s game to recognise that they can be rattled by teams looking to play on the front foot against them. Coventry need to be prepared for Plymouth Argyle to come after them, looking to press high and attack quickly, which is going to put pressure on the team’s build-up play from the back.

The big danger from Plymouth Argyle is the combination between Morgan Whittaker and Bali Mumba, likely to be on the right side of their attack, that is going to test Jake Bidwell on what could well be his return to the team at left-back, as well as Haji Wright’s ability to track back and offer cover. The concern is that Mumba and Whittaker could double-up on Bidwell and leave Coventry City’s back-line scrambling as a result. It is a battle that the Sky Blues are really going to have to be switched on in combating.

The opportunity here comes from how much space Plymouth Argyle leave behind them in looking to be so positive going forward. Given the counter-attacking threat Coventry City have, that should be something this team should be relishing. Goals on the break are likely for the Sky Blues, it is about how firm the defence can hold to ensure those goals can prove to be match winning.