Sideways Sammy

Beaten and outclassed at home to Ipswich Town, that result and performance will matter little if Coventry City can quickly get back to winning ways. A trip to lowly Charlton Athletic offers a good chance of doing so, but with such little turnaround time and a handful of key players looking fatigued, it cannot be taken for granted.

The Addicks are a gritty side under Nathan Jones who will be happy to take advantage of any tired legs among the Coventry ranks as they battle for points to stay in the Championship. With one win in their last ten games, they will hold onto any opportunity they can get to put points on the board.

Expected Line-Up

The main positive for Coventry City heading into this game is the possible return of Bobby Thomas to the defence. With Luke Woolfenden again having failed to convince with the opportunity to start games that he’s been handed, it would be a pretty easy decision for Frank Lampard to make if Thomas is given the all-clear to start this match.

With Jay Dasilva serving the last match of a three-game suspension, left-back remains a problem area, with Miguel Angel Brau having put in a ropey display against Ipswich Town on Monday evening – albeit, with no-one else making much of an impression either. The Spaniard could well continue here, likely to face less of a defensive test here against a Charlton side who play with wing-backs, allowing him to display his more positive attacking qualities.

Elsewhere, the big decisions look to surround Jack Rudoni and Haji Wright, who are both in poor form over the past month. Frank Lampard has shown every indication of persisting with the duo but may change things up off the back of a loss, with Rudoni likeliest to lose his place, with Josh Eccles stepping up in his stead.

Possible Line-Up (4-2-3-1): Rushworth; Van Ewijk, Thomas, Kitching, Brau; Torp, Grimes; Sakamoto, Eccles, Mason-Clark; Wright.

Last Time We Met

Charlton Athletic threatened to do a job on Coventry City at the CBS Arena back in November, taking the lead through a scrappy set-piece goal in the first-half and then managing to avoid giving a penalty away and breaking to nearly score a second. Coventry rallied after that life-line, with Josh Eccles firing in from range and then Ellis Simms heading home from a corner to reverse the score-line before half-time.

A potentially nervy second-half was settled when a Victor Torp shot was parried by Charlton goalkeeper, Thomas Kaminski, directly into the path of Ellis Simms, who couldn’t miss a tap-in. It sealed a fifth win on the trot for Coventry City, meaning they had won every game in November.

The Opposition

The Manager – Nathan Jones

Having started the strongest out of the promoted League One sides, despite a more limited budget, the past two months have been rough on Nathan Jones and Charlton Athletic as they have tumbled from play-off outsiders into the relegation battle. With the teams below them starting to find form, now is the time for Charlton to dig in and eke out points. It’s the kind of situation that tends to suit Jones’ backs-to-the-wall, motivational approach.

Nathan Jones has built this Charlton Athletic side in a similar image to his Luton Town team that eventually won promotion to the Premier League. The idea is to keep games tight by being solid defensively, rattling the opposition with strong tackles and playing the ball into the forwards quickly. When it works, it gets results, when it doesn’t, it can be miserable to watch.

Who To Look Out For?

It is Charlton Athletic’s defensive phalanx that has the ability to make this game tough for Coventry City. The trio of Thomas Kaminski in goal, Lloyd Jones at centre-back and Conor Coventry in midfield set the tone, with ex-Luton Town stalwarts Reece Burke and Amari’i Bell completing the defensive unit.

The star attacking player in this Charlton side is undoubtedly the quick Tyreece Campbell out wide. The left winger beat Milan van Ewijk for pace on a couple of occasions back at the CBS Arena in November and will be the key outlet for his team in getting up the pitch in this game. While his output has room for improvement, he is someone constantly able to get in good positions.

Matt Godden remains injured, leaving Charlton Athletic without a reliable goalscorer this season. Sonny Carey from an attacking midfield position has been the closest thing to that, but has struggled for form since starting the campaign well. Instead, the hope surrounds summer signing, Charlie Kelman, rediscovering the form that made him League One’s top scorer last year while at Leyton Orient. Otherwise, it will be about turning the flashes that players like Miles Leaburn and Tanto Olaofe show into final product.

Possible Line-Up (3-1-4-2): Kaminski; Burke, Jones, Bell; Coventry; Bree, Berry, Rankin-Costello, Campbell; Olaofe, Kelman.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

With Charlton Athletic a side that offer relatively little threat in open play, aside from the pace of Tyreece Campbell on the left wing, the challenge for Coventry City here is to show they can break down a determined defensive team. For much of this season, the solution has been via set-pieces but there are signs that opponents are starting to wise up to that threat. Now would be a good time to produce something a little different in the final third.

Jack Rudoni’s poor recent form and Haji Wright’s struggle for goals has robbed Coventry of a lot of their open play threat. In their stead, the burden has been placed almost solely on Ephron Mason-Clark’s shoulders as the team’s attacking outlet. With Mason-Clark tending to take a lot of touches before getting crosses or shots off, the risk here is that it allows Charlton time to get bodies between him and the goal. Whoever plays in the final third, the aim here has to be to take that final ball quickly when space opens up.

As much as Charlton can be a pretty one-dimensional side in terms of their attacking threat, they may only need something to come off once to be able to dig in for a result here. Milan van Ewijk’s lack of fitness is a concern, as he’ll be up against Charlton’s primary threat, Tyreece Campbell, who has already shown he may be quicker even when both are fully fit. Additionally, the reverse fixture showed the Addicks have some tricks up their sleeve from set-pieces that Coventry City cannot afford to switch off at.