Sideways Sammy

After digging out a win at home to Blackburn Rovers after the international break with the team looking a little rusty, Coventry City will be looking to click back into gear over the coming weeks to maintain their top spot in the early Championship table. A midweek away trip to Portsmouth looks the kind of test that may define whether the Sky Blues stick around the promotion places this season.

Pompey were the side who ended fellow promotion-contender, Middlesbrough’s, unbeaten run this season and after taking a point at Leicester City at the weekend, will go into this game believing they can claim another scalp. Furthermore, this game feels a particularly important bellwether for Frank Lampard and Coventry City, with Fratton Park having been the location for one of last year’s most chastening defeats. Come through this unscathed and it’ll be another sign that Coventry may just be sticking around the top spots.

Expected Line-Up

There were a few signs of fatigue against Blackburn Rovers, an indication that the recent wave of injuries is beginning to have an impact. Jack Rudoni remains the key absentee and with him some distance from returning, Frank Lampard may be have to consider ways to manage the squad to account for the loss of such an important presence in midfield.

As well as Brandon Thomas-Asante has done in Rudoni’s number ten spot, the first-half against Blackburn highlighted how him playing there can leave the team short in the middle of the pitch. Ahead of a tough away trip, the manager must be considering whether it’s worth beefing up the team in that area, with Jamie Allen a strong contender to come in and one of the wide players losing their place. Ephron Mason-Clark, having only recently returned from injury is probably the likelier out of him and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto to drop out of the side to account for that change.

Elsewhere, the other consideration looks set to be Haji Wright’s fitness levels after the recent international break. The American put in a good shift with little reward against Blackburn Rovers and with Ellis Simms looking sharper and more engaged off the bench of late, there will surely be a temptation to reverse the duo’s roles here in order to give the team fresher legs up top over the 90 minutes.

Last Time We Met

In what was a key home game back in April to secure a play-off place, Coventry City looked to have been frustrated by a Portsmouth side who had arrived at the CBS Arena to take a point. That was until Frank Lampard made some late substitutions, including the introduction of Jamie Paterson, which lead to a late Hail Mary from the home side that saw the ball fall to Paterson, who met it expertly with his shin to score a crucial late winner and served to be the Coventry-born forward’s first and only goal for his hometown club.

The Opposition

The Manager – John Mousinho

After keeping Portsmouth’s head above water last season, John Mousinho is looking to make further progress at Fratton Park this year. A solid start has Pompey on track and knowing that they are probably only a big result or two from launching themselves into play-off contention. A hard-working team that can be a nightmare to play against on their own patch, Portsmouth will be quietly confident they can take the game to Coventry and to help ignite their campaign.

While Portsmouth haven’t been fluent in front of goal this season, they have tightened up a touch at the back in order to stay in games longer and reduce them to tight margins. They tend to approach games very differently between home and away, playing fairly passively on the road and more aggressively at home. They are the kind of team that forces their opponent to work to grab anything from the game and will take advantage of any drop in standards.

Who To Look Out For?

The good news for Coventry City is that by far and away Portsmouth’s best player, Josh Murphy, will miss this game through injury. The winger’s pace and crossing ability make him the most dangerous creative player in the division. The bad news is that Murphy’s replacement, the Tottenham Hotspur loanee, Yang Min-hyeok, has scored or assisted in his last three matches, highlighting Portsmouth’s greater squad depth.

The biggest issue that John Mousinho has faced this season at Fratton Park has seemingly been trying to find a way to fit all of his best attacking options into the same team. The summer signing of the talented Australian attacking midfielder, Adrian Segecic, has proved an instant success, which has made it a little awkward to play John Swift and Conor Chaplin (both returning to their hometown club) alongside Segecic and the in-form Yang as the former three all seem to want to play in the same area of the pitch. With Swift scoring at the weekend, it seems Chaplin will remain shoehorned out wide and Segecic left on the bench.

With Colby Bishop leading the line, Portsmouth have a big physical presence in the penalty area who can feed off all the good work that the attacking midfield players do behind him. There have been questions asked of Bishop’s presence outside the penalty area, which could be see Conor Chaplin moved to centre-forward to free up an attacking midfield spot.

At the back, Portsmouth seem to be benefitting from better luck with injuries over the opening months of the campaign, having been forced to chop and change for most of last season. Regan Poole, Connor Ogilvie and Jordan Williams are all solid Championship defenders, with summer signing, Josh Knight, slotting in seamlessly in that back-line. Goalkeeper, Nicholas Schmid, picked up an injury early in the campaign but Josef Bursik is another who has eased into the team.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

Coventry City’s ability to control the midfield will be put under stern inspection in this game, with Portsmouth likely to be similarly energetic in the press as Blackburn Rovers were on Saturday as they unsettled the Sky Blues. If Jamie Allen is to come into the side, that should provide some more legs in the middle to stop Portsmouth running through the centre of the pitch, and someone comfortable receiving the ball in the team’s own half to provide more control rather than the slightly aimless long passes out that Carl Rushworth ended up playing at the weekend.

Still, the worry with a midfield three of Jamie Allen, Matt Grimes and Victor Torp is whether they have the physicality to impose themselves against a hard-running Portsmouth side. Allen’s ability to provide force in the challenge is inconsistent, while Torp can float in and out of games, especially when he’s played further forward. There could be an argument there to stick with Brandon Thomas-Asante in that withdrawn forward role because of his work-rate and also that he could be a big danger running off the back of a pretty slow Portsmouth midfield.

Coventry City’s pace in attacking areas looks to be the biggest area of opportunity, particularly out wide. Portsmouth are a team that are pretty happy to defend their box but the combination of a slow central midfield and full-backs means that they can be caught on the counter-attack when the rest of the team pushes up. Don’t be surprised to see Carl Rushworth again tasked to try and kick balls over the top of the opposing back-line to help create those opportunities.