Sideways Sammy

Two wins from two to start the post-November international break run of fixtures has cemented Coventry City’s position at the top of the Championship, with Tuesday’s victory over Middlesbrough helping take the wind out of a potential promotion rival. With five games left until Christmas, if Coventry can reach 50 points by the time they tuck into their turkey dinner, the remainder of the season could become a close to a formality.

The Sky Blues have a tough run of games to target those ten additional points but it starts with a clash with a Charlton Athletic side that have shipped eight goals over their past two matches. Nathan Jones’ Addicks had started the season looking a ferociously tough team to break down as the made the step up from League One and could still do a job on Coventry but this looks a chance for Frank Lampard’s side to further assert their dominance over this division.

Expected Line-Up

Tuesday night’s win over Middlesbrough came at the cost of both Brandon Thomas-Asante and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto picking up injuries, which leaves Coventry City extremely light on attacking options, with Haji Wright also looking set to remain on the absentee list. While Sakamoto was able to soldier on after taking a hefty blow to the head from a Matt Grimes shot in the second-half, concussion protocols could leave Frank Lampard with little choice but to re-arrange, with just two fully-fit forwards to call upon.

Coventry played something approaching a 3-4-2-1 in the latter stages of the Middlesbrough game, with Milan van Ewijk dropped into the back three, Kaine Kesler-Hayden at right wing-back and Jack Rudoni part of the attacking line. Something similar may be utilised for this game but Rudoni may be kept on the bench as the Lampard looks to manage his return to fitness. Kesler-Hayden looks a certainty to start, but could be utilised in an advanced right sided role to avoid Charlton overloading Milan van Ewijk in an unnatural proxy centre-back role.

Elsewhere, there seems little reason or option to change things up. Potential suspensions loom over Liam Kitching and Jay Dasilva, with a big game away at Ipswich Town next up, but Frank Lampard has, thus far, elected to keep players in the team rather than worry about them picking up bookings ahead of the cut off after next week.

Last Time We Met

Coventry City had been on a poor run of form in League One when Charlton Athletic visited the Ricoh Arena back on Boxing Day of 2018 with the Addicks challenging for promotion and the Sky Blues the newly-promoted side. However, Mark Robins’ side had been playing better than results suggested and put in a spirited performance against opposition they’d beaten on their own patch a few months earlier.

Coventry took the lead just before half-time when some neat build-up play saw Conor Chaplin tease a cross for Jordy Hiwula to head in. Charlton applied pressure from set-pieces in the second-half and were level when Darren Pratley nodded in after the Sky Blues struggled to deal with the initial ball in. However, Tom Bayliss won it late on with a tidy finish after being played in by Luke Thomas.

The Opposition

The Manager – Nathan Jones

Derided as a joke following a quote-heavy, results-lean spell in the Premier League with Southampton a few years ago, Nathan Jones has proved at Charlton Athletic that he is a manager of substance in turning around a mid-table League One side into one just a few results away from getting back into the Championship play-off race. A strong man motivator who is excellent at getting teams drilled defensively and able to niggle opponents in the challenge and through dark arts, Jones’ Charlton can be a nightmare to play against when at their best.

The Addicks have come a cropper over their past few games partially due to bad luck and partially due to their defence looking a little leggy. One of the least creative teams in the division, Charlton rely upon being able to keep games tight in order to pick up results. Nathan Jones will be looking to erase memories of their two last games with a dogged defensive performance here.

Who To Look Out For?

Charlton Athletic are a team built around their defensive unit, with last season’s promotion-winners Lloyd Jones, Macauley Gillesphey, Conor Coventry and Kayne Ramsay supplemented with ex-Luton Town players familiar to Nathan Jones such as Amari’i Bell, Reece Burke and James Bree.

Lloyd Jones is the steering presence in the back-line at the centre of Charlton’s back three, with Conor Coventry snapping into tackles in front of him in midfield. The addition of James Bree at right wing-back has been both a blessing and a curse, in that Bree’s form in the position has seen the energetic and physical Kayne Ramsay shifted to right centre-back. Nathan Jones might just be considering moving Ramsay back to right-back in order to tighten up, although injuries may limit his ability to do so.

Further forward, while Charlton Athletic are pretty workmanlike, the one player who can provide inspiration is Tyreece Campbell on the left wing. The academy-produced forward is an excellent ball-carrier who can catch teams on the counter-attack and will be someone Milan van Ewijk and Kaine Kesler-Hayden will have to keep a close eye on. Rob Apter is another potentially threatening wide player but has struggled with the step up to the Championship.

In the final third, the summer addition of League One’s top scorer from last year, Charlie Kelman, hasn’t provided the goals that had been hoped for. That’s been an especially big blow with Matt Godden having been injured for the entirety of the campaign up until this point, while the giant Miles Leaburn and the physical Tanto Oloafe have both also struggled to settle at Championship level. Instead, Sonny Carey has been the main source of goals, a midfielder playing in an advanced role who has proved a great goal poacher with late runs into the box.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

Charlton Athletic are undoubtedly going to show up at the CBS Arena and look to sit in and frustrate in order to get a clean sheet as a minimum and tight win as a maximum. With Coventry City short on attacking options, this could prove a very frustrating contest if the players who are available aren’t able to produce the goods against a tough defensive opponent.

Where Charlton look to be weak is on the counter-attack, where their defence – especially on the left side – looks short on pace. The onus could well be on Milan van Ewijk and Kaine Kesler-Hayden to either carry the ball at speed or make enterprising runs into space in order to stretch the Addicks back-line. At least one of the two will have to play as a forward, rather than their more natural defensive role.

Over half of Charlton’s goals this season have come from set-pieces, which will be a key area Coventry City will have to stay switched on for with the Addicks’ open play threat relatively minimal. However, it could also be an area of opportunity for the Sky Blues, with Charlton somewhat lucky to have only conceded two from set-pieces this season relative to the amount of chances they have allowed.