Sideways Sammy

A convincing win at home to Birmingham City has gone a long way towards asserting Coventry City as one of the early promotion favourites. The Sky Blues were dominant and unerring in taking their chances against a Blues side who looked punch-drunk as soon as they fell behind. Now this team knows it’s not a case of whether they’re good enough to challenge for the top two places, but whether they are consistent enough to do so. A midweek away trip to Millwall will surely test that.

The Lions are eyeing up at least a top six place this season and will be eying up a home game against Coventry City as a chance to prove that they can achieve their goals. While the goals haven’t exactly flowed for Millwall this campaign, they have been tight enough at the back to keep the points ticking over and the play-off places in reach. This is the kind of game that looks set to be all about who has the energy and determination to claim the result.

Expected Line-Up

Two games since a transfer deadline day in which Coventry City allowed three forwards to leave the club, Jack Rudoni joining Ephron Mason-Clark on the injury list highlights an increasingly alarming lack of cover. While the Sky Blues got the job done against Birmingham City with Brandon Thomas-Asante on the left wing and Josh Eccles just behind the centre-forward, repeating the feat away in midweek with almost no ability to rotate will be a significant test.

Frank Lampard seems to prefer a settled line-up and system, which is good because he has little option but to stick with what is currently working. Any changes to the team that beat Birmingham would be of the curveball variety and likely to involve either a change of system or players operating well outside their preferred positions.

The only scope to freshen things up would be introducing the likes of Ellis Simms or Jamie Allen to the starting line-up, but that is probably too big of a drop off in comparison to the starting XI to be considered unless Coventry have picked up further injuries since Saturday.

Last Time We Met

Millwall exposed Coventry City’s Achilles’ Heel of set-piece defending as they eased to a League Cup victory back in August, albeit with both teams significantly changed. A loose ball in the box from a corner-kick fell to Massimo Luongo to set the Lions on their way, with Kamarl Grant heading in with 14 minutes left to kill off any realistic hopes of a Coventry comeback.

Frank Lampard soon brought on the cavalry, leading to Haji Wright scoring a penalty that he had won with just one minute left of normal time. However, it was too little too late, with an errant Miguel Angel Brau shot the closest the Sky Blues came to forcing a penalty shoot-out.

The Opposition

The Manager – Alex Neil

A wily campaigner at Championship level, Alex Neil has been entrusted to elevate a Millwall side that has been suffering some growing pains in recent years as they have looked to move on the core of the side that established them as a top six challenging team at this level, towards a younger, more dynamic team unit with players it is hoped will either make up that gap to play-off places or be sold on for profit. It has been a solid start, but six goals from seven games have made it clear where the problem has been for Millwall.

Neil is not a manager famed for producing free-flowing attacking teams but he hasn’t been aided by several of his key forward players having started the campaign in indifferent form, along with a lengthy injury list. Alex Neil is excellent at negating the strength of opponents with energetic, physical and ruthless performances from his teams. The Scot is likely to fancy the opportunity to shut down one of the strongest-starting teams in the division, an occasion where the Sky Blues will have to be wary of teams changing their tactics in response to their current form.

Who To Look Out For?

It has been hoped at Millwall that the trio of Mihailo Ivanovic, Josh Coburn and Camiel Neghli can shape the team’s attack over this year and several to come. Ivanovic and Coburn are physical, hard-working strikers who have perhaps found goals hard to come by despite their significant nuisance factor. Neghli, meanwhile, is a cultured wide player with an eye for the spectacular who Coventry City will have to be wary of when they get into shooting positions.

Backing those forward players up are a resolute defensive unit, with January addition, Tristan Crama, having recently been moved seamlessly to his preferred centre-back position from right-back as the replacement for previous star player Japhet Tanganga, highlighting the club’s increasingly smart recruitment policy. With the stalwart and giant Championship defender, Jake Cooper alongside Crama, Millwall will be tough to break down.

In midfield, Derek Mazou-Sacko looks to be another find from Millwall’s recruitment team, adding some dynamism in what is in danger of being a stolid and slow midfield unit. Out wide, Thierno Ballo and Aidomo Emakhu add direct pace, when the more subtle approach of Neghli is not required.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

For Frank Lampard, the challenge of this game will be overcoming the difficulty of travelling away from home in midweek. Having taken off the entirety of his front five players early on Saturday, the manager will be hoping that fatigue is not excuse, instead, it will be up to the likes of Haji Wright and Brandon Thomas-Asante to match the work-rate they showed against Birmingham City against a physically demanding and experienced Millwall back-line.

Coventry City can probably expect Millwall to turn the squeeze on them with their pressing at least for periods of this game. The willingness to go long that they showed against Birmingham City could be a smart ploy here to avoid Millwall getting on top of the Sky Blues, with, again, the role of the forward players vital in turning any direct balls forward into contests with the opposing defenders.

Finally, in what is set to be such a tight game, set-pieces could prove a crucial area. Saturday’s game showed just how valuable grabbing a goal from a dead ball situation can be in forcing an opponent to re-think their game-plan and allowing Coventry to play in the quick and energetic manner they prefer to. Millwall may well provide Carl Rushworth with his sternest inspection from high balls and crosses that he’s faced since the September international break.