Sideways Sammy

Last week’s win over Hull City has put a seven-point buffer between Coventry City and the relegation zone, a gap that could be set to increase over the next two games, with fixtures against the two other bottom three sides. It provides Frank Lampard with a crucial opportunity to earn some buy-in from both players and fans during the congested run of festive fixtures. Moreover, if the Sky Blues can string some wins together, the season may be re-defined from avoiding danger towards something more exciting.

The first task is to navigate a potentially tricky trip to a struggling Portsmouth side who have improved recently at their Fratton Park home. Coventry City cannot afford to underestimate a team that is desperate for points and smarting after a recent chastening defeat away at Derby County, otherwise they risk getting dragged back into the scrap. This is a time for the supposed quality in this squad to shine through.

Expected Line-Up

It seems unlikely that Frank Lampard will change a winning team, having had the benefit of a week’s rest from the last fixture. However, there are a couple of tweaks that the head coach may look to implement here in order to adapt to the challenge of playing away from home.

Specifically, the selections Jay Dasilva at left-back and Luis Binks at left centre-back may be contingent on the team being able to have the lion’s share of possession. It was notable last week that Dasilva was substituted late-on, when Hull City were looking to go more direct and apply pressure, additionally, Jake Bidwell has started both of Lampard’s away games in charge of the team. Binks’ position may be more secure, but, again, Joel Latibeaudiere could be favoured here for his greater combative qualities.

The other area for change is probably at centre-forward, where Norman Bassette put in a pretty toothless showing in last week’s win over Hull City. Given just how much this team is looking to put crosses into the box, Ellis Simms makes far more sense to lead the line. However, if the plan for this game doesn’t involve controlling possession, Bassette may get the nod due to his greater desire to chase loose balls and close down the opposing centre-backs.

Additionally, Josh Eccles may be a consideration to come in for Victor Torp in order to provide greater sturdiness on the road.

Last Time We Met

Coventry City were right in the middle of an unbeaten run that carried them to promotion from League One during the Covid-curtailed 2019/20 season when they last took on Portsmouth. Pompey made the midweek trip to St Andrew’s as slight favourites, on a good run of form themselves, which made for a tight and tense contest between the two teams.

The deadlock was broken late on when Callum O’Hare received the ball from a throw-in and flicked the ball over the Portsmouth back-line for Matt Godden to turn-in. The Sky Blues never really looked back after that victory, timing their run to the top of League One perfectly to coincide with a devastating global pandemic that would at least secure them a place in the second-tier of English football.

The Opposition

The Manager – John Mousinho

A surprise pick for Portsmouth manager nearly two years ago, having only recently retired as a player and with no prior association with the club, John Mousinho quickly demonstrated the acumen in the dug-out to get Pompey out of a torturous run of top-half finishes of League One and finally into the Championship. Life in the second-tier, however, has proved to be a bigger challenge, with Portsmouth handed a deathly run of fixtures against the promotion favourites to start the campaign, which killed all momentum from promotion and has turned this season into a scrap for survival.

Mousinho delivered promotion last year at Fratton Park by making the team solid and energetic, able to get their noses in front and grind out wins, while scoring important late goals when required to keep the points ticking over. The challenge the manager has faced this season is that this marginal style of football has proved less effective when faced with teams with much greater resources. Along with that nightmare start in terms of the fixture list, a poor summer of recruitment and a medical absence for key striker, Colby Bishop, has made Mousinho’s task all the more difficult.

Who To Look Out For?

The recent return to fitness of Colby Bishop had coincided with an uptick in form that finally made Portsmouth look competitive at Championship level. The physical centre-forward provides that reference point and penalty area presence to provide an energetic Portsmouth side with some teeth in the final third. In Bishop’s stead, Kusini Yengi and Elias Sorensen simply proved to be not up to the standard of Championship football.

Portsmouth have an array of wide attackers to pick from who can feed off Colby Bishop’s efforts in leading the line. Summer signing, Josh Murphy – pinched on a free from fellow promoted side, Oxford United – has clicked into gear since Bishop’s return to fitness, providing excellent ball-carrying and deliveries from wide areas that are a rare piece of quality in an otherwise workmanlike side. Matt Ritchie, returning to the club after spells in the top-flight from Bournemouth and Newcastle United, has also found form of late, another fantastic crosser of the ball, but less mobile than Murphy, at 35 years old.

In addition, Callum Lang, had been the one shining light for Portsmouth during their difficult start to the season. A prodigious hard-worker in either a central or wide area, Lang provides occasional moments of quality driving at defenders or getting shots off that have been able to generate opportunities out of nowhere. Paddy Lane, Sammy Silvera and Christian Saydee can all also contribute occasionally from those attacking positions behind Colby Bishop.

At the back, John Mousinho has had to be creative as he has battled with injuries throughout the campaign. Lacking experience of this level in the back-line, veteran, Marlon Pack, has been moved into central defence from midfield to try and make up for that. In addition, Terry Devlin, another midfielder, has been tried out at right-back to limited success. In goal, Portsmouth, like Coventry City, have used three different players in the position over the course of the season.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

Portsmouth will look to be energetic and try and impose themselves on Coventry City early on in this game, especially in light of last week’s heavy defeat at Derby County. The Sky Blues will have to be ready for an opponent that will look to disrupt their rhythm when passing out from the back. It is something the team has done pretty well since Frank Lampard has taken charge, which will then afford the opportunity to look to pick off the gaps in a makeshift Portsmouth back-line.

If Portsmouth look to contain the threat of Ephron Mason-Clark and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto running at their full-backs, their lack of an aerial presence at centre-back should be something Coventry City look to target in getting crosses into the penalty area. If Portsmouth look to contain that crossing threat, that may well then free up roam for the Sky Blues’ wide players to cause problems.

Crossing may well be this game’s key theme, with Portsmouth possessing quality of their own in putting balls into the box, via Matt Ritchie and Josh Murphy, with Colby Bishop the key target in the penalty area. Closing down that crossing threat should probably be Coventry City’s biggest concern, otherwise, Bobby Thomas will have a key role to play in his physical battle with Bishop.