Sideways Sammy

Any fallout from that heavy defeat at Portsmouth last week has been contained with a straightforward Boxing Day thrashing of Plymouth Argyle. The challenge now is to build on that win last time out to string together a run of results that will definitively drag this team away from danger and perhaps towards looking up the league table. A second festive home game in a row is as good an opportunity as any to build momentum.

The opposition are a Millwall side that have sacked their manager and won just once since they lose to the Sky Blues back at the start of the month. A team that had been eyeing up a top six challenge when these sides last met, Coventry City will go leapfrog them in the table with a win here.

Expected Line-Up

The big decisions heading into this game for Frank Lampard are whether to stick with a winning team or to rotate the squad to keep things fresh in the middle of the hectic festive fixture list. A knock picked up by Ephron Mason-Clark that saw him taken off at half-time against Plymouth Argyle may make the continuity route a little harder to pursue.

The extent of that knock taken by Ephron Mason-Clark is unclear, but should he be forced out of the team here, the head coach is left rather short of wide options. That was underlined by the decision Frank Lampard made to push Jack Rudoni out wide in the second-half against Plymouth, with Victor Torp taking up the vacant attacking midfield spot, which could well be maintained for this game, with Brandon Thomas-Asante short of form and Raphael Borges Rodrigues yet to feature for the first-team.

Elsewhere, Frank Lampard might be tempted to put Liam Kitching into the defence in order to stiffen things up against a Millwall side that poses an aerial threat up top and from set-pieces. That could either see Joel Latibeaudiere drop out of the back-line, or provide an opportunity to rest Milan van Ewijk, with Latibeaudiere moving to right-back.

Finally, Norman Bassette may currently be first-choice at centre-forward but after registering a blank in a game where his team-mates helped themselves to goals, there remains that question mark as to whether he can be relied upon to take chance that come his way. Whether it’s this game or later in the festive run, Ellis Simms needs to be ready to come in and press his claim to Frank Lampard as the team’s better option up front.

Last Time We Met

On one of many blustery days that the UK has endured over the past month, Coventry City travelled to Millwall in Frank Lampard’s second game in charge, looking to end a winless run against an opponent trying to keep up the pressure on the top six. Millwall thought they’d taken the lead early on, when a corner-kick beat Brad Collins to go directly into the back of the net, but it was pulled back for a foul on the City goalkeeper.

That let-off allowed the Sky Blues to settle into the game and eventually become the dominant side. After looking tentative in the final third during the remainder of the first-half, Coventry City stepped up through the gears in the second, with Ephron Mason-Clark missing from metres out before being sprung in behind by a Jack Rudoni cross to flick his finish past the Millwall goalkeeper to put the away side ahead. Aside from belated rally from the Lions, it proved to be a comfortable 1-0 win for Coventry.

The Opposition

The Manager – David Livermore (Interim)

That narrow defeat back at the start of December quickly unravelled Neil Harris’ reign at Millwall. The manager, rather ungratefully for someone who had been sacked from a League Two job around 12 months prior, lashed out at fans and the club’s directors in his post-match comments, describing them as ‘thickos’ and was soon informed that his services at The Den were no longer required. With no immediate successor for Harris lined up, the Lions have been under the interim charge of David Livermore, who has explicitly stated he does not want the job full-time.

Livermore hasn’t changed much in Neil Harris’ departure but has made use of one or two players that his predecessor had been reticent to, which seems to have been one of the reasons why Harris was sacked. With a win and defeat, each by a single goal, under his belt, Livermore has kept up the team’s ability to keep games to tight margins. The task for the new guy appears to be to add more excitement to the mix.

Who To Look Out For?

It has been the young duo of winger Aidomo Emakhu and striker Mihailo Ivanovic that had found themselves in favour since Neil Harris’ departure. Emakhu offers some explosiveness out wide that adds another gear to Millwall’s attacking play, while Ivanovic is a giant centre-forward who has just turned 20 and is seen as a significant potential asset for the club after signing for big money over the summer. Emakhu looks set to miss this game through injury.

Without Aidomo Emakhu, Millwall still have a couple of exciting wide attackers, in the forms of Femi Azeez and Romain Esse. Azeez has started to find his feet at Millwall after signing from Reading in the summer and has stepped up recently with some key contributions. Esse, meanwhile, is a rangy attacking player who is looking increasingly like a match-winner after gaining trust to start games regularly this year. In addition, there are more experienced players like Duncan Watmore, George Honeyman and Tom Bradshaw who can contribute in the final third for the Lions too.

Further back, the formula is to keep things tight and competitive. Jake Cooper remains a key defensive absentee, but Millwall at least have Japhet Tanganga back in the side to provide physicality and pace in defence. Paired with the giant Murray Wallace and with reliable pros such as George Saville, Casper de Norre and Ryan Leonard around the defence and midfield area, Millwall can be a tough nut to crack.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

This is set to be a significantly more competitive game than last time out against Plymouth Argyle. Millwall will be physical and resolute throughout, which looks set to reduce the contest to tight margins that Coventry City will have to battle to be on the right side of. Any loss of concentration at the back could prove costly for the Sky Blues here against a team that may not let them back into the game.

A key concern for the Sky Blues here will be set-piece defending, which could be a decisive area of the contest. Coventry haven’t been particularly secure from dead balls throughout the campaign and it could well be a detail the coaching staff haven’t been working on as they focus on changing the overall style of play in possession. With Millwall possessing height and physicality across their team, they may look to take advantage of that with both teams likely not to be at peak fitness in the middle of the festive period.

Potentially being without Ephron Mason-Clark and his ability to run in behind is a concern for Coventry City. That could end up making this a cross-heavy attacking performance against an opponent likely to be happy to soak up that kind of approach. This could be an important game for Norman Bassette to provide that running in behind, although he’ll be up against a quick and physical marker in Japhet Tanganga, which could nullify him.