DON Goodman believes Coventry City can open up a gap at the top of the Championship table after looking at the club’s upcoming fixtures.
Coventry enter the international break top of the Championship table after securing three wins in the space week with the Sky Blues the only team yet to lose a league game this season in the Football League.
The Sky Sports pundit believes any team finishing above Coventry this season will have a good chance of securing automatic promotion to the Premier League.
Speaking to football betting site talkSPORT Bet, Goodman said: “For me, City are the team ticking all the boxes in the Championship.
“I’ve spoken about Middlesbrough needing to find that edge in attack and how Stoke’s goals are drying up a little, but Coventry are doing everything.
“What makes it more impressive is that they’re doing it without Jack Rudoni and Ephron Mason-Clark, who would both be starters if fit.
“It doesn’t really get better than that, and at this stage, it feels like anyone finishing above Coventry is going to have a great chance of being automatically promoted. That’s how highly I rate them.
“When I look at their next five fixtures, I see a real opportunity for them to maybe put daylight between themselves and a lot of the other chasers, really.
“With respect to these teams, they’re going to play Blackburn, Portsmouth, Watford, Wrexham and Sheffield United.
“The highest team of those six is Watford, who are 10th in the table. So it’s the here and now for Coventry.
“This is a massive, massive chance, and if they keep going the way they are, I could see them having a, having a bit of a cushion once those six games are done.”
While Frank Lampard’s side have received many plaudits for their attacking play this season, Goodman also heaped praise on Coventry’s defensive prowess.
And Goodman highlights Coventry’s defensive stability as the reason why he thinks the Sky Blues can build a lead at the top of the table.
Goodman added: “My concern for Coventry City, before a ball was kicked, would have probably been defensively.
“Maybe I didn’t see solidity in the goalkeepers and the defenders last season, even though they had a brilliant time under Frank Lampard from November onwards.
“I just always felt they were a team that you could go and score against, really.
“We all know about their goalscoring prowess, having already 27 goals, which is miles ahead of Bristol City, who have scored the second-most with 15.
“But the fact that they’ve kept four clean sheets this season and three in a row, that’s what is making me stand up and take notice.
“That solidity now appears to be there and they’ve still got Luke Woolfenden to come in if needed, which is good for the depth in that area.”
