A HUGE game awaits Russell Slade’s men today as they face Swindon Town (3pm) at the Ricoh Arena in a ‘six-point’ fixture.
The Robins – like the Sky Blues – currently sit in League One’s relegation zone having secured 30 points from their 33 games so far this season.
Positioned five points behind Swindon are Coventry, who have a game in hand against the Robins, meaning a win today would put the Sky Blues just two points behind the Wiltshire outfit – and potentially lift them off the foot of the table depending on the result of Chesterfield’s home tie against Oxford.
Swindon’s presence in the relegation zone can be put down to a poor 2017 campaign.
Luke Williams’ side have managed to secure just six points from their last ten games, and have won one game this year when beating former Premier League side Bolton Wanderers 2-1 on January 14th – five successive losses followed.
Defensively, Swindon have conceded 47 goals this season while up front they’ve managed to score just 29 goals – only Coventry (28) and Oldham (21) have scored fewer.
Their biggest threats up front come from attacking duo Luke Norris and Jonathon Obika as well as midfielder John Goddard – all of which have bagged three goals this year.
Goddard has also proved capable within the Swindon team of setting up goals, totalling five assists this season – currently the club’s leading man.
Despite sitting low in the league table, Town boss Williams has praised his side’s work in defence prior to today’s game – highlighting the fact his men restricted Oldham to no shots on target last weekend.
Today is likely to bring a different challenge to Swindon though, with City boss Russell Slade spoilt for choice regarding his attacking options with Stuart Beavon, Charles Vernam, Kwame Thomas, George Thomas, Marcus Tudgay and new recruit Yakubu all free.
Former City midfielder Conor Thomas will make a return to his former stomping ground, where he made 100 appearances for the Sky Blues and scored one goal.
The 23-year-old learnt his trade at the Coventry City Academy after being spotted while playing for local club Christ The King FC.
Thomas has made 28 appearances for the Robins so far this season.
In summary, today’s game is more than likely to end a season-long trend for one of the two clubs.
Coventry have the second worst home record out of any teams in the league this year, while Swindon have managed just two wins on the road throughout their 2016/17 campaign.
You can follow all the action from the Ricoh Arena on our website or by using @covobservernews on Twitter from 2pm.
