Ipswich Town host Coventry City in a Championship clash this afternoon (3pm). Mark Heath takes a look at the Sky Blues...
Story so far
Coventry were among the pre-season favourites for a promotion push, given they lost in the play-off final to Luton Town last term.
But it's not really worked out that way so far, with the Sky Blues labouring down in 15th place after their first 18 games (W5, D7, L6 F23 A21).
They lost the likes of star men Gustavo Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres too, leaving them with some big shoes to fill in terms of goals and creativity.
Their big summer signing, striker Ellis Simms, an £8 capture from Everton, has struggled to make an impact thus far, with just two goals in 19 matches.
But perhaps things are starting to look up.
A run of four straight defeats was ended with a 0-0 stalemate earlier against Stoke City this month, a result which coincided with a switch in formation from boss Mark Robins.
Since then, they've won two on the bounce - a 3-0 away thumping of Millwall in Joe Edwards' first game as Lions' boss, and a 1-0 home triumph over struggling but dangerous on their day Plymouth Argyle.
Get in formation
As just mentioned, Coventry's recent uptick in form has come after a switch to a flat back four in a 4-3-3 formation which focuses on swift counter-attacking, the sort of approach which worked so well for them last season.
Striker Matty Godden, who leads the Sky Blues with seven strikes so far this season, seems to be a fan. He said: "When I first came to the football club that's what we played, and I just try and occupy the two centre halves.
“I might not see the ball as much. I saw the ball a lot on Saturday against Millwall but then not so much of it against Plymouth, but it's just about just trying to stay alive in the 18-yard box and occupy the two centre halves and when needed, get involved in it.
“It's something that I enjoy doing, playing up there on my own, with Haji (Wright) and whoever else on the other side.”
Matt finish
Godden has happy memories of playing at Portman Road, having bagged the winner last time Coventry visited Suffolk.
That game, in March 2020, was the last match before Covid hit and the League One season was scrapped, with Coventry going up as champions.
Of that, and the Town challenge, he said: "I’m looking forward to going back to be honest. Back-to-back wins for us boys and it’s something that we can look forward to now and obviously we've got very good memories down there.
"We know it's obviously going to be a tough game and they're doing really well, but I said to the boys and the gaffer yesterday, that psychologically for me, and the way that I look at it is I said the same at Millwall.
“We went to Millwall, and we had a meeting before, and I just said psychologically, I know results haven't gone for us, but we go to we go to Millwall where we've enjoyed playing in the past and it's the same with Ipswich really.
“We've enjoyed going down there in the past and I just look at that psychologically and we're going to look forward to going in there and trying to do what we need to do.
“I know they’re a different team now but like I said, my mentality is we go there, we don't sit back, and we try and take the game to them.”
Robins on Town
Like every other boss in the second tier, Robins has been impressed with Kieran McKenna's men.
But that doesn't mean he's not optimistic heading to Suffolk.
He said: "We saw Ipswich on Wednesday evening and the first thing you've got to do is match their intensity.
"They try and suffocate the space and make you feel that pressure and the intensity that they play out is really impressive.
“We've got to start the game as well as we possibly can do and as well as them if not better, and that's going to be a big ask.
“I think they are a really intelligent group that have got a real understanding because they've played together for a period.
“They've added some quality, they've got a big squad and they've set the stall out 18 months ago and they've stuck to that with a with a good coach, who's come in with a big reputation for Manchester United, and he's obviously living up to that reputation at Ipswich, and he's got them going. There's no doubt about it.
“It's going to be a big task but a big challenge and one we can look forward to absolutely on the back of the results that we've just picked up.”
He added: "For us and for any team that's going to a side that's flying, it's a big challenge. They are one of the form teams in this division, if not the form team now, because of results the other night.
“They play in a way that is exciting, they’re scoring goals, but they also concede them and they concede space, there's areas where we can hurt them, but we've got to we've got to be good and consistently good throughout the game, but then so are they.
“We've got to go there without any fear and go into this game with an expectation of matching that intensity that they have and if we can do that, then we'd have a chance in the game.”
Ones to watch
As already mentioned, Godden is Coventry's leading scorer with seven goals so far, six in the league.
Forward Haji Wright has five strikes and two assists to his name, and then it's all the way down to Simms with two goals.
Wright and Josh Eccles are tied on two assists in leading that category, while Eccles is level with Jay Dasilva on 33 chances created.
Potential starting XI (4-3-3): Collins; van Ewijk, Thomas, Kitching, Bidwell; Eccles, Sheaf, Allen; Sakamoto, Godden, Wright
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