Sideways Sammy

Coventry City picked up their second league win of the season with a convincing victory at home to Blackburn Rovers.

Ahead early thanks to a Jake Bidwell header from a set-piece, the Sky Blues never really looked back in an energetic, forward-thinking display. The biggest threat came from the rainy conditions, with several passes holding up on the turf, making for a frantic night as both teams struggled to assert control and loose balls looking either side’s greatest source of danger.

That contributed to Coventry City’s crucial second goal early in the second-half. A backwards pass from Tyrhys Dolan held up on the surface long enough to force a rushed clearance directly into the path of Haji Wright. The final result was never in doubt from that point onwards, with Brandon Thomas-Asante wrapping up the win with a low finish past Aynsley Pears in the opposing goal after a quick break.

Energy And Intent

If the past two performances had questioned just how motivated this Coventry City side is, this was a showing to counter that. Buoyed by an early first-half goal, the Sky Blues competed for every ball, never letting Blackburn Rovers settle and constantly on the look out for opportunities to burst on the counter. That energy threatened to become nervous, but a second goal early on the second-half calmed any tension about the Sky Blues.

The front four led the charge for Coventry City, with Brandon Thomas-Asante leading the line and Jack Rudoni constantly chasing things and looking to stretch behind the striker, allowing Haji Wright and Ephron Mason-Clark to float into dangerous areas out wide. The attack’s efforts were aided by Ben Sheaf and Josh Eccles supporting the team’s pressing efforts from central midfield, while Jake Bidwell and Milan Van Ewijk were both very positive from the full-back positions to further add to the forward thinking nature of this Sky Blues display.

It was a high energy display, with Coventry City keen to play the ball forward quickly into space for the attacking players. Going ahead so early supported that effort, forcing Blackburn Rovers to push forward and leave themselves open to being caught on the counter. Had the Sky Blues a little more familiarity as an attacking unit, this could have been more than a three goal win, with plenty of good attacking opportunities not taken by players not quite accustomed to their teammates’ movement and getting that final ball or decision to shoot not quite right.

Such is the pace and energy of this Coventry City side, that their biggest strength right now looks to be in generating counter-attacking opportunities, even if the execution isn’t quite there. One of the big issues this season has been in getting drawn into long, aimless spells of possession, which have allowed opponents to sit in with comfort waiting for chances of their own to counter. By deliberately playing the ball forward more quickly in this game, the Sky Blues avoided those sterile, aimless moments, even if it meant turning possession over cheaply. 

Coventry City made the game frantic and, on this occasion, they had the greater quality to take advantage of it.

Sheaf Makes The Difference 

After a sloppy, tired display against Leeds United last time out, there were concerns that Ben Sheaf being back to fitness wasn’t the silver bullet Coventry City had been hoping for. Thankfully, this performance from the midfielder served as a timely reminder of just how pivotal a presence Sheaf can be when he’s at his best.

For so much of the season, Coventry City have lacked a figure in the centre of the park to tie things together from both an attacking and defensive stand-point. The Sky Blues have often had little answer to teams running directly at them through the middle or been able to find the quality to play quick passes into the attack. Sheaf solved those two exact issues in what was an immense display, especially for someone still short of full fitness.

In what was often a frantic midfield battle, on a wet, slippery pitch in rainy conditions, Ben Sheaf was the calm head who rose above the chaos. Whether it was in reading opposition passes to kill off threatening attacks or getting things started the other way, This was not an easy night to show quality in, with so many passes from either team affected by the surface, which made Sheaf’s performance all the more impressive.

It would be remiss not to mention the efforts of both Jack Rudoni and Josh Eccles in aiding and abetting Ben Sheaf’s impressive performance. The manner in which Jack Rudoni made telling runs from the attacking midfield role, plus his ability to control the ball in difficult areas, provided an outlet for Sheaf’s passing. Josh Eccles, meanwhile, was a more than able partner, sweeping up in midfield in any area that couldn’t be covered by one man, allowing Sheaf to play facing forward.

That this was such an impressive performance from Ben Sheaf should serve as a reminder that his fitness shouldn’t be taken for granted. Mark Robins is going to have to be careful to not overload Sheaf in these early weeks following his return, less he risk losing the team’s key player for a longer period. Seeing him taken off once the game was won was a positive move, that hopefully sees Sheaf able to produce a similar performance at the weekend.

A First League Clean Sheet

Coventry City’s long run without a league clean sheet ended – strangely, against the last team they kept one against – in what was a largely comfortable performance by the defence. While it was always likely to happen that the Sky Blues would eventually come up against an opposing attack on an off-day, the hope has to be that this one clean sheet helps shatter the impression that this set of defenders is incapable of keeping them.

Mark Robins turned to the most experienced defensive unit he could have possibly picked for this game, a sign that he was just as keen to end this spell of sloppiness at the back as Coventry City fans have been. While there is a debate to had as to whether anyone in that back-line other than Milan van Ewijk truly are the best the team has in their respective positions, the manager was clearly looking for trustworthiness rather than talent and was rewarded with the clean sheet.

The biggest call was to persist with Ben Wilson in the goalkeeping position, not just because summer signing, Oliver Dovin, had not really done much to deserve getting dropped, but in light of letting in a couple last time out against Leeds United that he should probably have saved. The decision looks to be informed by Wilson being a more vocal presence between the sticks, a priority over Dovin’s superior distribution at a time the team has been shipping goals.

On the face of it, the decision to stick with Ben Wilson wasn’t necessarily vindicated here, with the goalkeeper not called into many interventions to keep the clean sheet. However, Wilson could clearly be heard in the stands bellowing out instructions to a defence that had its shaky moments. Along with claiming some key crosses, coming off his line well on one notable occasion late in the first-half and slowing play down when he needed to, that Wilson didn’t have to make big saves suggested his organisational skills had an effect.

While it was a comfortable clean sheet in the end, the combination of the rainy conditions and nerviness from Bobby Thomas and Liam Kitching at centre-back in the first-half threatened Coventry City’s leading position. Between Thomas’ continued impulsiveness in the challenge that can leave space behind him to a few really sloppy moments from Liam Kitching on the ball – although, Ben Sheaf also had one notable lapse in concentration on the verge of half-time that nearly cost a goal – there was a looseness as the opening 45 minutes dragged on that a better team on the night than Blackburn Rovers may have pounced on. The conditions may also have helped kill off those dangerous moves as much as they contributed to them.

Scoring a second early in the second-half went a long way to calming down any nerves at the back. The hope is that the experience of keeping one clean sheet provides the belief to keep them more consistently going forward. Finding the best combination in defence has been an ongoing issue, if this back-line can now be backed over a run of games, that may go some way towards fomenting defensive stability going forward.