A famous FA Cup victory and nearly two weeks to think about an upcoming Wembley semi-final against Manchester United has provided the almightiest of distractions from the league for Coventry City, not that it’s not a wonderful distraction to have. With a run of five games in the space of 16 days, if Sky Blue eyes have been taken off the ball, hopes of making the play-offs could be extinguished in short order.
An away trip to a Huddersfield Town side in the bottom three is the type of assignment that any team in search of a top six finish should be able to complete with a minimum of fuss. However, it is starting to get to the time of the campaign where struggling teams can summon hitherto unseen levels of performance as desperation creeps in. Any sign of complacency here will be gleefully pounced upon, this is an important game to set up this final chapter of the campaign.
Expected Line-Up
While the majority of the squad has enjoyed a break of just under two weeks, this run of fixtures may force Mark Robins into beginning to consider taking players out of the firing line in order to keep them as fresh as possible for future matches. On top of that, with Joel Latibeaudiere, Kasey Palmer and Haji Wright having all been on international duty half-way around the world over the past week, the manager may well feel that his set of viable starting options for this game is relatively limited.
After unexpectedly reverting to a 4-2-3-1 system to such success against Wolverhampton Wanderers last time out, that system should stay in place here, but there may be personnel changes in response to the level of challenge in this game and the need to manage the squad. The key positions to look out for are the three in behind Ellis Simms at centre-forward, given that Milan van Ewijk may not be needed as an attacking midfielder against a team Coventry City will want to dominate, and Kasey Palmer and Haji Wright may be handed a rest to keep them fresh for Monday’s game against a Cardiff City side that still have a scent of the play-offs.
Ideally, Milan van Ewijk would drop back to his natural full-back position, and both Kasey Palmer and Haji Wright would be spared from the starting line-up, but there are a paucity of options in order to do so. Most likely is that Milan van Ewijk will stay in his advanced role, Callum O’Hare will start in the central position, leaving one of Kasey Palmer or Haji Wright to start on the left. If Mark Robins is really bothered about resting the international duty players – which isn’t something he’s been concerned with after the previous international breaks – Fabio Tavares and Jay Dasilva could come into the conversation, Victor Torp being pushed further forward is another consideration, along with the possibility of playing Ellis Simms on the right in order to bring Matt Godden in at centre-forward.
Elsewhere, Ben Sheaf demonstrated against Wolverhampton Wanderers exactly why he’s so important for this team with a commanding central midfield performance. While the idea of pairing Sheaf with Victor Torp is an exciting one, Josh Eccles’ energy and awareness in that other central midfield spot should earn him the starting position for as long as he can maintain that kind of performance level.
Last Time We Met
It was in that awkward early stage of the season when Coventry City were struggling for cohesion amidst an almost completely rebuilt squad as they took on a Huddersfield Town side under the new management of Darren Moore at the CBS Arena. A classic it was not, summed up by Yasin Ayari accidentally putting the Sky Blues ahead when a powerful Ellis Simms shot deflected off the woodwork and off a delicate part of the Swede’s body to find the back of the net. Against a Terriers’ side that showed little ambition or quality for much of the game, that should have been that.
However, Coventry City retreated further and further into their shell as the game wore on, unable to hold onto possession and almost willing Huddersfield Town onto them. After Bobby Thomas drew an excellent late save from Lee Nicholls in the Terriers’ goal, it was the centre-back’s error at the death that cost the team all three points, as he failed to clear a cross into the box that allowed Huddersfield to nick the draw, via Michal Helik, in a game that neither team deserved anything from.
The Opposition
The Manager – Andre Breitenreiter
It’s been quite the journey managerially for Huddersfield Town since Carlos Corberan walked out on the club prior to the start of last season. They have vacillated wildly between extremes, from the utter inexperience of the likes of Danny Schofield and Mark Fotheringham, to the grizzled veteran Neil Warnock, Darren Moore, who sat somewhere in the middle, to now, Andre Breitenreiter, someone who has managed at a high level on the continent and is promising to transform Huddersfield into a more attractive, intelligent outfit. Breitenreiter seems a coup of an appointment for a club deservedly languishing in the Championship relegation zone, but the league position and the completely opposing profiles of managerial appointments Huddersfield have made over the past two years speaks to a club lacking a robust sense of direction.
In the short period Andre Breitenreiter has had in charge of Huddersfield Town, performances have shown signs of improvement, although, there has been only one win over those five games. Huddersfield look much more positive and attack-minded under Breitenreiter compared to the lower-quality, percentages football that both Neil Warnock and Darren Moore looked to apply for much of the campaign. Whether it’s good enough with a squad that looks to be one of the weakest in the division remains to be seen, but the Terriers are showing signs of life under Breitenreiter where previously, they seemed to be happy scrapping for the occasional point, unaware of their dire situation in the league table.
Who To Look Out For?
The good news for Coventry City heading into this game is that Huddersfield Town will be missing arguably their best player, in Sorba Thomas, who is suspended here after getting sent-off last time out against Rotherham United. The Wales international’s pace and almost unparalleled crossing ability could have been a key source of inspiration for Huddersfield here, particularly from set-pieces, which has been one of their biggest strengths this campaign.
There are other dangerous players among the Huddersfield Town ranks nonetheless, with Jack Rudoni from central midfield and Delano Burgzorg up front the team’s brightest players for much of the campaign. Rudoni’s combination of work-rate along with technical skill in gliding past players in central midfield makes him a relentless presence in the centre of the park, occasionally breaking the game open in his team’s favour. Burgzorg is something of an enigmatic presence in attack, quick, strong and skilful, he can be a danger when he’s able to isolate and run at defenders but can be inconsistent in his output.
Huddersfield Town’s biggest attacking threat comes not in attack or midfield, however, but in defence. Their top-scorer, with nine goals, is Michal Helik from centre-back. The big Pole’s goal return this season, largely from the excellent set-piece delivery of the aforementioned Sorba Thomas, has been especially important given that none of the team’s strikers have found any kind of form, with January signings, Rhys Healey and Bojan Radulovic, doing little to address the Terriers’ lack of penalty box presence in open play.
Elsewhere, Lee Nicholls in goal is an excellent shot-stopper who can shut up shop when he’s at his best, although hasn’t quite hit the heights of two years ago when he was a key figure in the team’s run to the play-off final. Additionally, Matty Pearson and Radinio Balker can be strong defenders when the structure around them is right, while the versatile Northern Ireland international, Brodie Spencer, has proven his worth in starting games at wing-back of late, having been in the curious position of having made his international debut around two years ago, before he’d started a league game.
Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost
Not only do Huddersfield Town need to pick up points at this stage of the season, but they have adopted a more attacking, positive mind-set under Andre Breitenreiter. They are likely to look to press Coventry City high up the pitch, looking to force errors on the ball that this back-line can make in their attempts to play out of defence. The concentration and quality levels of that key hub of Brad Collins in goal, with Bobby Thomas and Liam Kitching at centre-back, on the ball will be important here in setting the tone, and is why the return of Ben Sheaf to help out with that area of distribution from defensive midfield could be vital here.
With Huddersfield Town without the quality of Sorba Thomas to nick the team a goal through set-plays, Coventry City have less to be worried about when it comes to conceding free-kicks in their own half against the elusive running of Delano Burgzorg and Jack Rudoni, however, the ability of Michal Helik from centre-back to attack balls in the opposing penalty area still has to be a consideration when it comes to the team’s willingness to give up fouls in order to stymie Huddersfield’s biggest threats in open play.
If Huddersfield Town end up taken a positive approach in order to try and win this game, the big area of opportunity for Coventry City is running at a pretty slow back-line on the break. Milan van Ewijk’s pace on the right side could well provide the team’s biggest attacking outlet, especially if Callum O’Hare is provided space on the counter to slide balls in behind for Van Ewijk to run onto.
Sideways Sammy 