Sideways Sammy

Defeat at Birmingham City turned what had been a middling run for Coventry City into a genuinely poor one, as they finished the festive period with just four points from four games. The break in league action comes at a good time for the Sky Blues, allowing them to reset mentally and physically ahead of the second half of campaign. With two new bodies added to the squad over the past week, a win in the FA Cup would further kick-start the campaign.

An away trip to a fellow Championship club is far from the most enticing tie and with all eyes on Coventry City securing promotion, a heavily-changed side seems highly likely. Nonetheless, winning can only be a good habit and recent results have showed how important it can be to get minutes into the legs of back-up players. A defeat won’t define the season but it will prolong the sense of a drop-off at Coventry.

Expected Line-Up

Frank Lampard is likely to ring the changes for this game after the congested festive run of fixtures. The loan additions of Yang Min-hyeok and Romain Esse boost the manager’s ability to rest key players but there is still relatively limited scope for change in one or two key areas due to injuries and suspension.

At the back, Ben Wilson will get a run-out in goal as part of his duties as the second-choice goalkeeper – with there being no sign of Oliver Dovin returning to the squad yet. Ahead of him, Luke Woolfenden is likely to start in central defence, with his partner decided by whether Frank Lampard wants to hand Milan van Ewijk a much-needed rest at right-back. Should Van Ewijk be given the afternoon off, Joel Latibeaudiere will slot in at right-back and Liam Kitching will pair Woolfenden in central defence. If not, Latibeaudiere will start in the centre. Given the calibre of opposition, a start for youngster, Callum Perry at centre-back, seems unlikely.

In midfield, Matt Grimes is another who is probably due a rest but a lack of alternatives may seem him remain in the starting line-up. The difficulty with resting Grimes is that there is no viable alternative to him as someone to sit at the base of midfield and retain possession. Jamie Allen would be the closest to Grimes’ alternative but may remain out of starting contention as he deals with a family bereavement.

Both Yang Min-hyeok and Romain Esse could go straight into the starting line-up to freshen things up. Yang is likely to play on the left, with Esse on the right. However, Esse may be used through the middle in order to hand Jack Rudoni a rest, with Tatsuhiro Sakamoto staying in the team.

Up front, this could be a chance to play Haji Wright into some form amid his current goal drought. However, it seems that Frank Lampard still sees the American as the first-choice centre-forward, so he may be rested in order to keep him fresh for next week’s league games, with Ellis Simms allowed to continue his impressive recent scoring form.

Last Time We Met

It was a win back in November that set Coventry City up to take the commanding position at the top of the Championship that they continue to occupy. In a tense clash at the bet365 Stadium, Coventry controlled much of the game but struggled to create much against a dogged Stoke City side.

With the game threatening to peter out into a draw, the Sky Blues turned to a key source of creativity – Milan van Ewijk’s long throws – to grab a crucial three points. Ellis Simms flicked on Van Ewijk’s launch into the box and it popped up off the floor perfectly for Ephron Mason-Clark to score the kind of bicycle kick he’d been attempting for at least 12 months to secure the win for Coventry, at the cost of a concussion.

The Opposition

The Manager – Mark Robins

A year into his tenure at Stoke City, Mark Robins has turned the Potters from perennial underachievers into, briefly, one of the most over-performing teams in the Championship. A hot start to this season had Stoke briefly in the automatic promotion race, but that defeat to Coventry City back in November has seen their form regress to the mean, as they now sit just outside the play-offs.

Robins has built a team at Stoke that are solid at the back and have a handful of key difference makers at the other end who win them games when they are on form. Given Mark Robins’ usual contempt for cup competitions, he is likely to ring the changes for this game, especially with his team in the middle of a tight battle for points in the congested middle of the Championship table.

Who To Look Out For?

Stoke City are missing a clutch of key players through either injury or international duty, with Viktor Johansson in goal and Lewis Baker in midfield both out with knocks and Junior Tchamadeu at right-back at the African Cup of Nations. It leaves Mark Robins having to make a call between playing the youngsters or adding to the workload of key players who he’d ideally like to rest.

That could provide an opportunity for the talented dribblers, Million Manhoef and Bae Jun-ho to demonstrate their ability to produce an end product, with star player, Sorba Thomas, likely to be handed a rest here. Additionally, Lamine Cisse has impressed recently after being trusted with starts over the Christmas period and should continue in the team here.

At the back, Maksym Talovierov and Bosun Lawal have been operating as centre-backs at full-back in recent games due to absences of other players, making Stoke particularly physical in defence. That has protected the youngster, Tommy Simkin, in goal has kept two clean sheets after being recalled early from an underwhelming loan in League One with Leyton Orient. Ashley Phillips and Ben Wilmot may be kept in at centre-back to lend a familiar feel to Stoke’s defensive set-up.

Central midfield is the only area with much scope for change, with Tatsuki Seko and Steven Nzonzi likely to come in for some fresh legs for this game. Seko is someone who keeps possession ticking over nicely in the middle, while Nzonzi offers a big physical presence, albeit, short of mobility, at the age of 37.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

With Coventry City the away team and looking set to make the most changes out of the two sides, Stoke City will be the favourites to get the job done here. That is especially so given that Coventry could well be without Milan van Ewijk’s long throws and Victor Torp’s set-piece deliveries, which are a key part of this team eking out goals when the attacking play isn’t fluent.

A key area concern is if Joel Latibeaudiere plays at right-back, given that he has repeatedly shown when played there that his lack of positional awareness is a big issue. He could potentially be up against Sorba Thomas, the Championship’s best winger, or Million Manhoef, who is one of the division’s best dribblers, which looks a complete mismatch. With Luke Woolfenden incredibly slow on the right of the centre-back pairing, that feels an area Stoke City could really exploit.

The key battle in this game in terms of Coventry City’s creativity will be how much of an impact the two new wingers make. Yang Min-hyeok isolating Maksym Talovierov at right-back could be a mismatch if the Korean gets the run on the Ukrainian, however, the latter’s physicality could deny him the ability to get a head of steam. On the other side, Bosun Lawal is a physical and mobile defender who’ll test Romain Esse’s desire to receive the ball under physical contact.