Midweek results have seen Coventry City drop out of the top six, with a three-point gap to make up and with two teams breathing down their necks below them in the table. The Sky Blues have little margin for error as they look to take an increasingly depleted squad into the play-offs over the remainder of the campaign. Now in the bizarre situation of playing two games over the space of a non Bank Holiday weekend, the season looks to be entering a crucial phase.
Beating a Preston North End side who are one of the two teams below Coventry City capable of overtaking them would be a huge boost to this team’s end of season prospects. The Lilywhites have proven to be a side capable of testing some of the best teams in the division, they will test the Sky Blues with their work-rate, physicality and just a touch of quality in some key areas. This looks set to be hard, bruising contest to test this team’s mettle in the play-off shake-up.
Expected Line-Up
Coventry City looked notably leaden-footed for long stretches of last week’s victory against Stoke City, unable to impose themselves in the second-half in particular as fatigue looks to have set in. It underlined why Mark Robins has been so keen to rotate over the past few games and he’ll have to continue to do so here with another game on Monday night on the horizon.
Given the importance of this game against a direct rival for a play-off place, expect Mark Robins to name something close to his strongest possible team here. That should see Tatsuhiro Sakamoto take Fabio Tavares’ place on the right of the attack after missing the last game through injury, and allow Ellis Simms to build on scoring in his past two games at centre-forward.
The news that Victor Torp had to come off at half-time against Stoke City through injury seems especially cruel at this moment in time, however, Mark Robins has intimated that the injury isn’t as serious as some have feared and the Dane could be in contention to start this game. With just Josh Eccles, Joel Latibeaudiere and Liam Kelly the remaining players capable of playing central midfield, Torp is an essential player right now in providing creativity in the middle of the park.
The sense of what the team’s strongest defence may well have changed after the clean sheet last time out against Stoke City which involved Ben Wilson, Luis Binks and Jay Dasilva coming into the back-line. It seems more likely than not that the same back five will be utilised here, although, Preston North End’s physicality in attack may tempt the manager to at least bring in the more physical, Jake Bidwell, to the left-back position over the the diminutive Jay Dasilva.
Last Time We Met
With Coventry City on a rotten run, a trip to Deepdale hardly looked like the moment their fortune would change. Second-best for much of the opening exchanges, they looked to have ridden their luck as Haji Wright tucked in a rebounded Matt Godden shot from a seemingly offside position to hand the Sky Blues the lead. However, a poor headed clearance from Jay Dasilva allowed Duane Holmes to fire Preston North End level. Almost straight from the resulting kick-off, Kyle McFadzean made a lame attempt to foul Milutin Osmajic, who had easily outpaced him, which saw the referee award a penalty despite McFadzean having been too slow to make much contact with the Montenegrin forward.
Once Alan Browne tucked the spot-kick away, the script for another away defeat at Deepdale had been written. While the game was notable for a switch to a back four that saw Haji Wright and Ellis Simms flicker into life as the wide attackers, a soft third goal conceded around the 70th minute killed off the fight-back, despite Wright snaffling a late consolation goal.
The Oppositon
The Manager – Ryan Lowe
A man who has been under fire for what has seemed to be the majority of his time at Preston North End despite having the team consistently in the play-off conversation on one of the lower budgets in the division. Ryan Lowe’s spiky personality in response to criticism hasn’t helped, neither has the sense that he has made little attempt to deliver the positive, attack-minded football he had promised upon his arrival, despite having had several transfer windows to mould the squad to his liking.
The only team in the top-half of the table with a negative goal difference, highlights that Preston North End have been a team this season that when they’ve been good, they’ve just about been winning games and when they’ve been bad, they’ve been very bad. The team’s key issue is that there is little structure or style to the way they attack, with the team taking the second-fewest amount of shots in open play in the division. With the defence not as imposing as it was last season, North End can go down rather meekly. That said, they are in good form of late, have some dangerous individuals and a habit of playing better against the best teams in the division. They are something of an enigma.
Who To Look Out For?
In Will Keane, Emil Riis Jakobsen, Liam Millar and Mads Frokjaer-Jensen, Preston North End have stumbled into a dangerous attacking unit of late. Keane and Riis are a big-man, big-man combination in attack, with Keane the more rounded threat in how he can drop deep to link play before getting into the box to finish, while Riis is more focused solely on the penalty area but is a handful to defend against nonetheless. That physicality up front allows the fleet-footed attacking midfielder, Frokjaer-Jensen to float into dangerous positions around the box to unlock defences, while the rapid and skilful Millar is the type of wide-man who can twist defenders into knots as he drives to the byline.
There is further depth in Preston North End’s attack, with the pacey Milutin Osmajic capable of coming off the bench to stretch tired defenders with his running in behind, while the club are hopeful that the intelligent, Duane Holmes might be available for this game to provide another nimble attacking player who can change things up later on. With Robbie Brady also capable of threatening with his delivery from wing-back, Preston have some good attacking options, even if the structure isn’t always there to shape them around.
With Ben Whiteman, Ali McCann, Brad Potts and Alan Browne all very hard-working, physical central midfield players, Preston North End can be a tough nut to crack, especially when they have a lead to defend. That is supplemented with Liam Lindsay and Jordan Storey proving consistent performers in central defence and Freddie Woodman in goal possibly one of the best in his position in the Championship.
Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost
One of the chief concerns for Coventry City in this game is whether the defence that kept a clean sheet with relative ease against Stoke City is equipped to replicate this feat here against a tougher, in-form Preston North End outfit. As was seen in the previous meeting between the two teams, North End attack crossing situations dangerously, which is a worry given that they now have Emil Riis Jakobsen to add further physicality in the box versus a diminutive Jay Dasilva and Luis Binks, who is yet to prove he can dominate a penalty area aerially. Bobby Thomas will have an important role to play in leading the back-line with his physical presence and organisational skills.
Another key battle in this game looks to be Milan van Ewijk versus Liam Millar on the right side of Coventry City’s defence. While Millar could be deployed on the opposite side to target Jay Dasilva, he is much more effective on his left side, which is going to test Van Ewijk’s ability to match an opposing winger with his pace. However, it seems a battle that the Dutch defender is capable of winning, especially with Tatsuhiro Sakamoto available to help out and then double up in attack put Millar’s defensive instincts under the spotlight.
Having Victor Torp fit feels important for Coventry City, against a physical and hard-working Preston North End midfield who can really press and unsettle the Sky Blues on the ball, Torp’s ability to operate in tight areas and drive the team forward from central midfield could be vital here in getting the team’s attacking players into the game and preventing dangerous turnovers in their own half. If Torp isn’t available, the likely combination of Josh Eccles and Joel Latibeaudiere are going to have to show more quality on the ball than they have of late to get the team going against a niggly opposition.
Sideways Sammy 