Coventry City welcome Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday night, with both clubs in the bottom half of the Championship table.
While the hosts had lately risen up to 15th place, the visitors have dropped to 18th after three consecutive defeats.
The departures of Gustavo Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres may have caused some type of hangover, but Coventry manager Mark Robins would not have predicted just one victory in eight games at the start of 2023–24.
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However, only two of those games—away at Leicester City and Cardiff City, respectively—ended in defeat, and Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Queens Park Rangers has somewhat turned the tables on their first nine contests.
Despite having only 11 points and a five-point deficit to the top six teams, Robins will believe that his team is only moving in the right direction.
Coventry has not managed to keep a clean sheet since the goalless draw with Sunderland at the end of August, while their 15 goals rank joint-eighth best in the division.
Given that Blackburn has the second-worst defensive record in the second tier, Robins and his team will feel optimistic of extending their unbeaten start at home.
On Sunday, they lost 4-1 at league leaders Leicester, giving up four of their 20 goals. Rovers briefly pulled even early on before being completely outclassed by the championship favourites.
Although Blackburn has conceded 17 goals in their previous six games in all competitions, Jon Dahl Tomasson won’t be very concerned.
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Even though they managed to win two games within that time and kept two clean sheets in the matches that came before the aforementioned time frame, their inconsistent play has left them vulnerable to the relegation zone.
Blackburn did begin the season with four points from two away matches, but since then, they have suffered road losses to Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town, two of the three promoted clubs.
In the absence of any injury concerns, Robins might start with the same Coventry lineup that defeated QPR.
If a change is made, Yasin Ayari would probably replace Jamie Allen in the midfield three’s most creative position.
The likes of Kasey Palmer, Ben Sheaf, and Milan van Ewijk are long-term losers.
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Tomasson is unlikely to overreact to a loss to Leicester, but it would be unexpected if he did not change the starting lineup for Blackburn.
Goalkeeper Aynsley Pears will be forced to make one change due to an ankle injury; Leopold Wahlstedt will take his place, while Joe Rankin-Costello and Tyrhys Dolan may also join the team.
Sammie Szmodics is anticipated to be utilised as a false nine once more with Harry Leonard slated to be out until after the international break.
Wilson, Thomas, McFadzean, Binks; Latibeaudiere, Eccles, Kelly, Dasilva; Allen; Simms, Godden are potential starters for Coventry City.
Pears, Brittain, Carter, Hyam, Rankin-Costello, Travis, Wharton, Sigurdsson, Moran, Dolan, and Szmodics might all start for Blackburn Rovers.
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