Preview: Coventry City vs. Blackburn Rovers - prediction, team news, lineups

While the home side have recently moved into 15th position, the visitors are down in 18th spot after suffering three successive defeats.

Match preview

Although Coventry boss Mark Robins may have expected some sort of hangover after the departures of Gustavo Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres, he would not have anticipated just one win in eight matches at the start of 2023-24.

Nevertheless, just two of those fixtures ended in defeat - away at Leicester City and Cardiff City respectively - and Saturday's 3-1 win over Queens Park Rangers has put a positive spin - to some degree - on their opening nine games.

Just 11 points have been accumulated and there is a five-point gap to the top six, yet Robins will feel that his team are only heading in the right direction.

Goals are not proving to be an issue with 15 strikes being the joint-eighth best in the division, but Coventry have not kept a clean sheet since the goalless draw with Sunderland at the end of August.

Robins and his squad will be confident of extending their unbeaten start on home territory, particularly with Blackburn possessing the joint-worst defensive record in the second tier.

Four of their 20 goals were conceded on Sunday as they went down by a 4-1 scoreline to leaders Leicester, Rovers initially getting back on level terms during the early stages before being blown away by the title favourites.

Although Jon Dahl Tomasson will not be overly concerned, Blackburn have now shipped 17 goals in their last six matches in all competitions.

Two wins have still been recorded during that period and they prevailed with back-to-back clean sheets in the fixtures before that aforementioned period, yet their inconsistency has left them vulnerable to the relegation zone.

Blackburn did start the campaign with four points from two away games, but they have since lost to Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town - two of three promoted clubs - on their travels.

Coventry City Championship form:

D

D

D

L

D

W

Blackburn Rovers Championship form:

W

L

W

L

L

L

Blackburn Rovers form (all competitions):

L

W

L

L

W

L

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Team News

Barring any injury issues, Robins could opt for the same Coventry XI that started the win over QPR.

If a change is made, Yasin Ayari would likely take the place of Jamie Allen in the most creative role of the midfield three.

The likes of Milan van Ewijk, Ben Sheaf and Kasey Palmer are sidelined in the long term.

Although Tomasson is unlikely to over-react to a defeat to Leicester, it would come as a surprise if he did not tinker with his Blackburn starting lineup.

One change will be enforced with goalkeeper Aynsley Pears suffering an ankle injury, his spot in line to be taken by Leopold Wahlstedt, while Joe Rankin-Costello and Tyrhys Dolan may also come into the team.

With Harry Leonard sidelined until after the international break, Sammie Szmodics is expected to be used as a false nine once again.

Coventry City possible starting lineup:

Wilson; Thomas, McFadzean, Binks; Latibeaudiere, Eccles, Kelly, Dasilva; Allen; Simms, Godden

Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:

Pears; Brittain, Carter, Hyam, Rankin-Costello; Travis, Wharton; Sigurdsson, Moran, Dolan; Szmodics

We say: Coventry City 2-1 Blackburn Rovers

With Blackburn being an unpredictable outfit, you cannot rule out Rovers getting back on track on Wednesday night. However, we feel that it is more likely that Coventry will post successive wins for the first time this season, catapulting themselves into playoff contention.

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