Aiming to earn their second success under the stewardship of Frank Lampard, Coventry City will welcome Hull City to the Coventry Building Society Arena for a Championship battle on Saturday afternoon.
The Sky Blues were made to pay for their lack of ruthlessness at West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday night, whilst the Tigers picked up a point at home to Watford on Humberside.
Match preview
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Since the arrival of former Chelsea and Everton head coach Lampard to replace Mark Robins at The CBS Arena, Coventry City have collected a respectable four points from three Championship matches, suffering their maiden defeat under the new boss at The Hawthorns on Wednesday.
Despite farming an expected goals of 2.21, the wasteful Sky Blues were unable to breach the net of West Brom goalkeeper Alex Palmer in the Black Country, with strikes either side of the half-time whistle from Alex Mowatt and Karlan Grant securing maximum points for the playoff-chasing hosts.
Hurtling towards the halfway point of the 2024-25 season, Lampard's Coventry are currently languishing down in 16th position in the Championship standings, a mammoth 11 points behind the top-six places after challenging consistently for the playoffs with Robins at the helm over recent years.
With Ellis Simms scoring just two goals across his first 17 second-tier appearances of the campaign, the Sky Blues are massively missing the attacking instincts of American marksman Haji Wright, who netted seven times before picking up a leg injury at the beginning of November.
Enjoying just the single win during their last seven league matches, Coventry will be looking to get back to winning ways on Saturday afternoon against bottom side Hull, with the East Midlands outfit last tasting success at The CBS Arena on October 26, when they came from two goals down to beat Luton Town.
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After impressing amid difficult financial conditions at League One outfit Reading, Ruben Selles has been handed the opportunity to steer Hull towards Championship safety this season following the dismissal of Tim Walter, who failed to connect with supporters at the MKM Stadium.
Those same fans were singing the praises and name of their new Spanish head coach on Wednesday night when Chris Bedia fired the Tigers ahead versus Watford after 82 minutes, although an 88th-minute equaliser from Rocco Vata forced a share of the spoils with the Hornets.
Bringing an end to a sobering six-game losing streak with a point last time out, Hull moved up to 16 points from 20 second-tier clashes this season, although Selles's new side are still stuck at the bottom of the Championship table, one point behind newly-promoted Portsmouth in the relative comfort of 21st place.
Amid a 12-game winless run in the Championship, the Tigers will be aiming to stop the rot and instil some defensive solidity into their performances over the festive period, with Saturday's visitors to The CBS Arena last keeping a clean sheet on August 24 against Millwall.
Perhaps a source of optimism for those of a Hull persuasion ahead of this weekend's clash in the East Midlands, the Tigers' most recent competitive victory arrived on the road at Queens Park Rangers on October 1, when Cody Drameh, Bedia and Liam Millar found the net in West London.
Team News
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As mentioned previously, Coventry are suffering without the services of leading goalscorer Wright, who is hoping to play a part before Christmas for Lampard's troops.
The Sky Blues' options in attack are reduced further by the prolonged absence of Raphael Borges Rodrigues, with the Australian yet to feature for the club following his summer switch from Macarthur FC.
After lacking a clinical edge at The Hawthorns, Coventry could shuffle their attacking pack as they patiently await Wright's comeback, meaning that Brandon Thomas-Asante could earn his maiden start of the Lampard era.
Providing plenty of energy from the left flank for Hull during the opening months of the term, Canada international Millar suffered a season-ending knee injury in October.
The Tigers also have another star sidelined for the remainder of the campaign, with Mohamed Belloumi sustaining a similar injury in early November.
Coventry City possible starting lineup:
Collins; Van Ewijk, Thomas, Binks, Bidwell; Torp, Sheaf, Sakamoto, Rudoni, Mason-Clark; Simms
Hull City possible starting lineup:
Pandur; Coyle, Hughes, McLoughlin, Giles; Slater, Mehlem, Kamara, Palmer, Burstow; Pedro
We say: Coventry City 2-0 Hull City
After rueing missed chances against West Brom on Wednesday, Coventry will be raring to show their ruthless side versus a Hull outfit who struggle to keep clean sheets.
We are expecting a backs-to-the-wall approach from the Tigers this weekend as they attempt to be solid on the road, however we cannot envisage a positive result for Selles's men.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Carter White
