Sideways Sammy

A dramatic win and a dominant display at home to Oxford United has got Coventry City’s campaign underway in earnest. Now with that first league victory under the belt, the focus shifts towards putting together a first run of form to help the Sky Blues match the early pace in the Championship. Getting a first away win early into the campaign, preventing any mental blockage building surrounding road trips, would be another step in the right direction.

The opposition for this match are a Bristol City side that Coventry City have already defeated this campaign and will be viewing this match as an opportunity for themselves to build some early momentum of their own. With a couple of new faces and a confidence boosting win since that meeting ten days ago, the Robins are a slightly different prospect from the team the Sky Blues faced.

Expected Line-Up

Just whether Mark Robins makes changes to a winning side from last Friday depends entirely on how seriously he views the nature of the two goals that Coventry City conceded that turned a comfortable win into a dramatic one. On the one hand, those goals could be explained away as somewhat unfortunate bounces of the ball in the opposition’s favour. On the other, those unfortunate bounces of the ball have probably occurred too often since the back end of last season to be explained away as accidnental.

The biggest selection decision looks to be between Bobby Thomas and Joel Latibeaudiere at right-sided centre-back. Latibeaudiere did pretty well, for the most part, against Oxford United, looking comfortable on the ball in a way that Bobby Thomas simply hasn’t of late. However, likely to be against the powerful Sinclair Armstrong up front for Bristol City, Thomas’ extra physicality may be favoured here, especially given that it’s an away game.

Another call in defence could be between Jake Bidwell and Jay Dasilva at left-back, with Bidwell again being a little sloppy defensively for an opposition goal. While bringing Dasilva in doesn’t necessarily address those defensive concerns, it at least provides the team with a more comfortable player in possession to support the attacking play. An alternative could be asking Bidwell to make forward runs less often, reducing the amount of tracking back he needs to do and the likelihood of him getting caught in transitions.

Elsewhere, there really doesn’t look to be much reason to change a winning team. Ben Sheaf has returned to training but will probably, at best, be on the bench for this game, reducing the temptation to tweak the midfield to bring in a more defensive-minded player. The addition of Norman Bassette this week is unlikely to change the conversation up front, with the Belgian teenager third/fourth-choice at centre-forward and will do well to make it into the matchday squad so soon after signing.

Last Time We Met

Cast your mind back to that long ago date of the 13th of August. The world was very different then, we’re talking about a time, if can believe it, when Coventry City hadn’t won a game this season, when no-one knew what the away kit looked like (okay, that’s not strictly true), and no-one had heard of Norman Bassette, a veritable eon ago. Both managers went fairly strong for that League Cup tie at Ashton Gate, with Bristol City having the best of the first-half against a disjointed Sky Blues outfit, forcing Ben Wilson into some decent saves to keep the scores level at the break.

The slew of home chances was stemmed in the second-half but it wasn’t until Mark Robins made an emphatic quintuple substitution, briefly moving to 4-2-4, that the momentum flipped around. Soon after that move, Kasey Palmer picked out Ellis Simms in space in the penalty area, and the centre-forward went on to score with aplomb. Coventry City continued to look the likeliest to score next, with Brandon Thomas-Asante seeing an effort ruled out for offside, emphasising the impact the greater squad depth this season might have.

The Opposition

The Manager – Liam Manning

Prior to that League Cup tie against Coventry City, Liam Manning had a record at Bristol City of 12 wins, draws and defeats since taking over mid-way through last year, after a defeat and victory since then, Manning may well be praying for another other than a draw to break the middling overall record he has had at Ashton Gate. A dramatic 4-3 win over Millwall last weekend could be the kind of thing that begins to see Robins fans warm up to Manning, who otherwise seems a calm, calculated and cold figure on the touchline.

The additions of attacking midfielders, George Earthy and Scott Twine, since that meeting ten days ago has helped tipped the balance of Liam Manning’s resources at Bristol City towards the exciting end of the spectrum. The plan seems to be if the team can be organised enough at the back to keep games tight, there is enough spark and unpredictability further forward to make the difference at the other end. It’s early days but there is something of the dark horse about this Bristol City side.

Who To Look Out For?

It is that permanent addition of Scott Twine, who excelled in League One under Liam Manning at Milton Keynes Dons, that ramps up the excitement factor at Ashton Gate most significantly. The attack-minded midfielder absolutely loves shooting, whether that’s from range or set-pieces, and is simply someone that has to be closed down whenever they are in sight of goal – which, of course, creates problems elsewhere.

In addition, the signings of the raw forward duo of Sinclair Armstrong and Fally Mayulu, on early signs, could well be paying off for Bristol City. Armstrong is an incredibly physical powerful striker who can also carry the ball with skill to make him a nightmare for opposing defenders to deal with, getting a first goal for the club last week could well provide him the confidence to improve upon the weakest element of his game, composure in front of goal. Mayulu, meanwhile, is a more languid presence up front, despite being tall and awkward physically to deal with, the French striker seems to like to float around the penalty area looking for pockets of space to get snap-shots away to catch the opposing goalkeeper out. Liam Manning has tended to rotate between the duo thus far, using Armstrong to tire defences down and Mayulu later on to take advantage of the space that opens up.

Another new addition to the mix for Bristol City is Max Bird, who signed in January from Derby County but stayed on loan in an Ephron Mason-Clark-like deal. Bird has typically played as a Ben Sheaf-style deep-lying ball-player who wins the ball and recycles it well, but has been pushed forward early on in his time at Ashton Gate to impressive effect. With Scott Twine in the team, the sense is that Bird may soon be pushed back into a more familiar role, but two assists from an advanced position last week should keep him in the team.

Elsewhere, the emphasis is largely on keeping things tight to provide the platform for those attacking players to excel. Zak Vyner at centre-back is a key presence for this Bristol City side for his organisational qualities and pace in defence to allow the more exciting players to push forward with confidence. Joe Williams and Jason Knight operating in front of the defence in midfield provide the energy and bite in the challenge to break up opposing attacks and to keep the team on the front foot.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

With the season still in its embryonic stage, it feels as if both managers are likely to approach this game looking to play the football they want their teams to execute, rather than being overly bothered by what the opposition are likely to do. Both Liam Manning and Mark Robins have wanted to make their teams more possession heavy this season, thus the battle for superiority in midfield will define which team is able to get on top.

The energy and tigerishness in the challenge of Joe Williams and Jason Knight for Bristol City could make it hard for the Sky Blues to get on top in an away game, especially as Mark Robins hasn’t really looked to deploy a particularly aggressive press even at home this season. The concern is that if Bristol City are able to achieve long spells of possession, that allows them to pick passes through a Coventry City midfield that lacks someone who can read the game and break up play, isolating the defence against the power of Sinclair Armstrong and creating shooting opportunities for Scott Twine.

Josh Eccles is likely to have an important role to play in attempting to be that defensive presence in the midfield for the Sky Blues, which he showed in moments against Oxford United. In addition, the extra physical and aerial ability that Bobby Thomas provides feels like it will be valuable here in providing the authority at the back required to hold firm with less of the ball.

Going forward, a big area of opportunity looks set to remain the combination of Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and Milan van Ewijk down the right wing, given that Bristol City don’t really have a natural winger to track the runs of Van Ewijk from full-back and Cameron Pring’s positioning can be a little suspect at left-back – with two of Millwall’s goals last week coming down that side of the pitch. With Haji Wright there to attack the back post against George Tanner, those wide combinations could be difficult for Bristol City to contain.