Sideways Sammy

A convincing home win against Preston North End last weekend has maintained pressure on the top six and sustained the momentum Coventry City are building. After seven wins from the last eight in the league, the task now is to keep something like that kind of form going until the end of the season. The next three games look particularly important in keeping the points ticking over, with a gruelling run against Sunderland, Sheffield United and Burnley on the horizon after that.

The Sky Blues head to an Oxford United side that they have already twice beaten this season and are winless in six games, scoring in just one of those. The U’s aren’t quite feeling the pressure of the bottom three yet, making this a great time to be taking them on. While football can be unpredictable, Coventry couldn’t really have asked for a better opportunity to extend their current run of form.

Expected Line-Up

Ben Sheaf may be back fit, on top of the prospect of Haji Wright making the bench for this game, but that is unlikely to impact Frank Lampard’s sense of his strongest line-up quite yet. After moving to a back four last time out to try and gain more control of the game, the manager got exactly what he wanted with a commanding performance against Preston North End, there seems little reason to change things up off the back of that.

Josh Eccles is probably the only member of last week’s starting line-up who would be in danger of losing his place in the side. The midfielder seems to have struggled of late with the constant tweaking of formations and the roles expected of him within them – at times, having to play as a sitting midfielder, other times having to play in attacking midfield areas. Eccles at least had his moments in the Preston North End game and may stay in the team here, needing a bigger performance to shake off the pressure Jamie Allen and Ben Sheaf are putting on his starting place.

The task for Frank Lampard for this game, and the next few ahead, is to be able to utilise the bench to the greatest possible effect. The introduction of, a short of match fitness, Jamie Paterson last time out showed how bringing on players for the sake of it can have a negative impact on games. With the likes of Sheaf, Wright and Paterson available to bring on, there’s going to be a temptation to want to get them involved, the manager has to assess the conditions of the match and how they might be able to affect it, before bringing them on.

Last Time We Met

Coventry City were largely on top in a League Cup meeting with Oxford United back in August at the CBS Arena. With Oxford offering very little in attack, it was a case of when, not if, the Sky Blues would take the lead. That eventually came thanks to a heavily deflected Brandon Thomas-Asante strike that sealed the win.

It was a game that would probably be best remembered for a needless Ben Sheaf cameo, which saw the midfielder suffer another injury set-back for the purpose of securing a place in the League Cup Third Round.

The Opposition

The Manager – Gary Rowett

The decision to part ways with the highly popular promotion-winning and former academy player, Des Buckingham, as manager back in December looked a knee-jerk reaction from the Oxford United board, with the appointment of Gary Rowett looking uninspired. Initially, however, Rowett propelled the U’s up the table and on the verge of the play-off conversation, only losing one of his first ten games in charge. Oxford’s form has subsequently dropped off a cliff.

What had been so interesting about Gary Rowett’s early time in charge of Oxford United had been they had been anything but the stereotype of his preferred style of defensive, tight margins football. Players had looked freed to press high and take risks going forward, but the goals have since dried up and performances have become more timid. The reality is that this is a club and a squad for whom staying up this season would be an achievement, the goal now is to put points on the board, rather than entertain in the manner they had been doing initially after Rowett arrived.

Who To Look Out For?

The template that won promotion for Oxford United last season was based around having a core of defensively solid players at the back, providing the platform for a handful of attacking players to kill games at the other end of the pitch. That has shown in patches this season to be an effective platform to pick up points in the Championship, although, the step up in quality has made it hard to do so on a consistent basis.

The key area of the pitch for Oxford United is those attacking areas, where they have players who are potential difference makers on their day. Whether it’s the nimble, homegrown attacking-midfielder, Tyler Goodrham, the cultured number ten Ruben Rodrigues, or the prodigiously hard-working Mark Harris up front, Oxford’s success rests on those players having a good day.

Oxford have attempted to bolster their depth in attacking areas with the additions of Siriki Dembele, Stan Mills and Ole Romeny this season, although Gary Rowett has yet to find a way to integrate them successfully into the starting XI. Additionally, the likes of Tom Bradshaw, Matt Phillips and Przemyslaw Placheta, have looked to add Championship experience in the final third, again, none of those players have really got going.

That search for balance continues in midfield, where finding a partner for the shot-happy, but somewhat positionally indisciplined, Cameron Brannagan has been an ongoing quest. Championship veteran, Will Vaulks, has largely occupied the role of the sitting midfielder but has struggled for form for much of the season. Chelsea loanee Alex Matos has arrived in January to provide some dynamism to that role, at the sacrifice of defensive solidity.

In defence, the addition of Michal Helik in January has added some aggression at the back for Oxford United otherwise short of experience at this level at the back. The giant Ciaran Brown has largely been Helik’s defensive partner, but he may be needed at left-back for this game, with the team’s two senior options in that position out injured. Goalkeeper, Jamie Cumming, is another solid operator for the U’s, holding down the position since signing on a permanent deal from Chelsea over the summer.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

Oxford United are a struggling side looking to build some confidence after a poor recent run of results, it feels like an aggressive start from Coventry City is exactly what they should be targeting. Considering the U’s barren recent showings in front of goal, if the Sky Blues can take an early lead, that could effectively kill the game and allow Coventry to refine the style of play Frank Lampard is looking to integrate into this team.

A key battle in this game is going to be over dominance of possession. Frank Lampard clearly wants this Coventry side to be able to dominate possession, but has yet to produce that kind of performance on the road. The wrinkle here is that the better strategy for this game may well to let Oxford United have the ball for long periods and take advantage of their lack of attacking cohesion and pace at the back to wait for errors and pounce on the counter. That said, Lampard may well be confident of the team’s ability to control this game through pressing Oxford and Matt Grimes’ quality on the ball to dictate proceedings.

Another key area may well be in how Coventry City look to create chances. The Sky Blues have found a lot of success recently by working crossing situations and scoring from headed goals, one of Oxford United’s biggest strength is their height and physicality at the back. That may well necessitate looking to play through them, rather than settling for getting the ball out wide. Finding that variation in creating chances could soon become a key challenge for Coventry.