Sideways Sammy

A heavily rotated side were able to see off Luton Town in midweek in the League Cup, meaning that Coventry City head into their first away trip with the dual monkeys of first win and first goal of the season off their back, but with plenty to prove in these early weeks of the campaign, nonetheless. Away days had become an issue towards the back end of the previous season, with the last trip to Derby County kicking off that poor run on the road.

That is what makes this game feel particularly valuable in picking up a win from, in being able to prove at an early juncture that improvements have been made over the summer. As much as starting the season with two clean sheets has been a step in the right direction, coming out the right side of a clash on the road where this team is going to have to show both fortitude and quality against a stubborn, aggressive opponent will be a feather in the cap for Frank Lampard and Coventry City in this quest to record a second consecutive top six finish.

Expected Line-Up

Just two of those who started against Hull City did so on Tuesday night against Luton Town – namely, Bobby Thomas and Victor Torp – which means just about every available member of the first-team squad has minutes in their legs to provide Frank Lampard some key selection decision to make. The chief one being, after a more impressive attacking showing in midweek while playing 4-4-2, there must be a temptation to stick with that, however, the concerns of playing away from home might take precedence – as well as restoring Jack Rudoni to the starting line-up.

It is probably Rudoni who will be the crux of the return to a 4-2-3-1 system for this game, with the biggest call looking set to be who starts at centre-forward. It is likely to be Haji Wright, however, if there’s any concern about his fitness levels, then it’s a call between Ellis Simms and Brandon Thomas-Asante. While Simms should have the edge, after scoring in midweek, Thomas-Asante’s pace could be useful in order to play balls in behind Derby County’s defence.

Speculation over the last 24 hours linking Bobby Thomas with a move away from the club potentially leaves Coventry City short in central defence for this game. With Jake Bidwell the only current cover in the position, however, it feels like Thomas will start, regardless of how close he may be to a transfer. Similarly, Milan van Ewijk will return to his right-back position as the first-choice player, even if the club may be awaiting a bid for his services.

Elsewhere, much of the rest of the team picks itself, with Ephron Mason-Clark and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto returning to their wide berths despite impressive midweek displays from Kai Andrews and Raphael Borges Rodrigues in their respective positions. Additionally, Matt Grimes will pair Victor Torp in the middle of the park and Jay Dasilva will resume his place at left-back as Carl Rushworth returns in goal.

Last Time We Met

After an excellent run of form over January and February, an away trip to Pride Park in March was the beginning of a sticky period on the road that saw Coventry City sweat over their eventual top six finish. In a rusty display, where the Sky Blues had possession and fluffed some half-decent openings, as soon as they fell behind in the first-half – to Matt Clarke nodding in a softly-conceded free-kick – that looked to be the death knell for Coventry.

Any hope of turning things around after a half-time reset were put paid to when Marcus Harness made it two to the home side shortly after the start of the second-half. Coventry City laboured throughout the rest of the game but lacked the wherewithal to truly trouble the Rams, who were fighting tooth and nail to stay in the division. A classic case of one team wanting it more than the other.

The Opposition

The Manager – John Eustace

Developing a reputation as one of the best firefighters in the Championship going, John Eustace will be hoping that over time in the Derby County job, he can prove he has more strings to his bow than getting teams of limited budget/ability scrapping for points. Since joining Derby midway through last season, Eustace has turned the team into a furious defensive unit that is capable of keeping games tight and nicking goals either on the counter or via set-pieces.

Over the opening two games, Derby County have mustered just three shots on target – scoring from two of them – but have been leaky at the back, conceding a total of 32 shots and four goals over that period. Both games were away from home – with one being a cup game with a rotated line-up – with John Eustace hoping that he will be able to rely upon Pride Park this season, where Derby were notably more defensively stern last year.

Who To Look Out For?

If John Eustace is hoping to evolve his reputation as a manager, a summer in which he has largely brought in experienced players, several of whom he’s already managed, has done little to assuage the sense that he isn’t looking to change the formula from what worked towards the end of last year. That means that Ryan Nyambe, at 27 and with over 200 Championship appearances to his name, could well be the youngest member of Derby’s likely back-line for this game, with veterans such as Danny Batth and Craig Forsyth integral figures alongside the more mobile Matt Clarke.

With the giant Swede, Jacob Zetterstrom, between the sticks who can really dominate the penalty area plus make huge saves, Derby County are especially difficult to break down, particularly from crossing situations. On top of that, Ebou Adams in central midfield is a real hard-running, hard-tackling player who will cover every blade of grass and give Coventry City little breathing room on the ball if they try to play too slowly.

The addition of the bruising Carlton Morris up front for Derby County adds to their impression of being a hard, physical team that can really wear opponents to the ground and turn matches into scrappy battles they’ll favour coming on the right side of. He’s been supported in attack thus far by the direct pace-merchants, Corey Blackett-Taylor and Kayden Jackson. If Derby are trying to evolve this season, they’ll hope that Rhian Brewster and Bobby Clark can add variation to the team’s attacking play beyond a pure counter-attacking strategy, with veteran, Andi Weimann’s, long-range shooting another wild card for the team. In addition, Kenzo Goudmijn from central midfield is someone who can carry the ball from deep as a way of changing things up.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

Being able to navigate these kind of tricky away trips against teams with physical intensity who will look to prevent Coventry City getting into a rhythm on the ball will surely have been one of Frank Lampard’s key concerns over the summer. The display away at Sunderland in the second leg of the play-off semi-final showed Coventry can go away from home, take the sting out of a game by controlling possession and create good chances, however, that came in the context of already being behind in a two-legged tie. Repeating that kind of display in the first away trip of the season would arguably be more impressive.

As such, the influence that Matt Grimes has on the game will be the bellwether of this Coventry City display. If he can get comfortable on the ball and set the tempo, that should allow the Sky Blues to dominate possession and set about breaking down a thorny Derby County side. However, he’ll need the centre-backs and his midfield partner, Victor Torp, to assert themselves on the game to prevent the opposition running at him and targeting his weakness in the challenge. Moreover, Grimes will need movement ahead of him to turn possession into threat.

On top of that, Coventry City are going to need to show they have more to their attacking threat than crossing and set-pieces, as Derby County will be very happen to sit in and defend that – particularly if they have a goal advantage to sit on. A key way the Sky Blues can change up their attacking play is either playing more directly from the back with those big Carl Rushworth kicks looking to play balls in behind for Haji Wright to chase, or to play short and deliberately to tempt Derby into pressing them, creating gaps further up the pitch that pinpoint passes from Matt Grimes or Victor Torp can play and get what is a pretty slow opposing defence on the turn.

As for Derby County’s threat, Bobby Thomas and Liam Kitching will have to scrap with Carlton Morris to prevent him being able to get his team up the pitch, either through hold-up play or winning fouls. Furthermore, Derby will be looking to their own set-piece threat to put Coventry under pressure, requiring the whole team to be alive to avoiding giving cheap free-kicks away and staying concentrated at dead balls.