Coventry City v Ipswich Town: Pre-match talking points

Ipswich Town need to take four points from their final two Championship games to be guaranteed of automatic promotion. (Image: Pagepix Ltd)

SPELLING IT OUT

You've studied the table and fixtures for weeks. You've followed the changing permutations closely. You've played it all out in your head constantly. I know you have.

And now here we are. Just five days and two games of the regular season to go. 

Ipswich Town, winless in four but ticking along nicely in terms of performances and points, are still in control of their own destiny thanks to Leeds and Southampton hitting late hurdles hard.

Kieran McKenna's men have already set a record for points posted by a newly-promoted Championship club (90). Indeed, you have to go back to 1998 for the last time a team didn't get promoted from the second-tier with this high a total (Sunderland).

Securing back-to-back automatic promotions into the Premier League - and I still can't believe I'm writing this - is tantalisingly close. There's still a massive job to be done though.

Win at Coventry tonight and 'just' a point would be required against all-but-relegated Huddersfield Town at Portman Road on Saturday lunchtime. It would certainly be nice to have that margin for error against a team who proved awkward opposition in the reverse fixture (1-1) and whose away record reads: W3 D10 L9.

Draw at Coventry tonight and a victory this weekend would be needed to guarantee getting the job done. That would certainly ramp up the pressure and nerves a notch, but still you'd back the Blues given their record and support on Suffolk soil.

But lose tonight - and this bit doesn't bear thinking about - Town would go into the final day needing Leeds to drop points at home to Southampton. Yes, Leeds suffered a shock 4-0 defeat at QPR last Friday, but Saints don't look like a team that can relied on for any favours right now given they've lost their last four.

Ellis Simms celebrates after scoring for Coventry against Manchester United in a dramatic FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. (Image: PA)

A TEAM WITH THREATS

Coventry City finished fifth last season before going on to lose to Luton in the Play-Off Final at Wembley. Star men Viktor Gyökeres and Gustavo Hamer were subsequently sold and long-serving boss Mark Robins had to undertake a fairly drastic summer rebuild.

Town beat the Sky Blues 2-1 at Portman Road back in early December (a game best remembered for Wes Burns' sensational outside of the boot goal), with the scoreline not reflecting how comfortably the visitors were kept at arm's length.

The East Midlands outfit have improved a lot since then though. Big money striker signings Ellis Simms and Haji Wright have found their feet in 2024, while a return from injury for tricky attacker Callum O'Hare has been a major boost.

Coventry have beaten Leicester and Leeds on home soil since the turn of the year, as well as knocking Premier League side Wolves out of the FA Cup and pushing Manchester United all the way in a dramatic semi-final at Wembley.

All of the above tells you this is not a team to be underestimated.

Haji Wright (left), goalkeeper Bradley Collins and Jamie Allen applaud the Coventry City fans following their recent 3-2 home loss to Hull. (Image: PA)

GOOD TIMING?

On the other hand, there's definitely an argument that this is a good time to face Coventry.

League performances/results have been hit by that FA Cup run. They come into this game 23rd in the last six form table (DLLLWL). Maybe Town losing to Maidstone in round three (who Coventry went on to beat) was a blessing in disguise after all?

Currently ninth, the Sky Blues will finish somewhere between seventh and 12th. There's no doubting that takes a bit of intensity out of the crowd and takes an edge off the players' motivations. That's just human nature.

Tonight will be Coventry's fourth game in 10 days, one of which was that mentally and physically draining game against Manchester United. Robins admitted his team were 'lacking energy' in Saturday's 0-0 draw at Blackburn. He's also going to be without a couple of key men this evening in suspended centre-back Liam Kitching and star midfielder Ben Sheaf.

George Hirst scored in Ipswich Town's memorable 3-0 win at Barnsley last April. Can history repeat tonight? (Image: Pagepix Ltd)

HISTORY REPEATS?

A memorable Tuesday night 3-0 win at Barnsley in late April left Ipswich with one foot in the Championship last season. Can history repeat?

That game, if you remember, had been re-arranged because of Greg Leigh's controversial ghost call-up by Jamaica. It came hot on the heels of another tough game on the road (Peterborough).

Tonight's game was re-arranged because of Coventry's progress in the FA Cup. It comes hot on the heels of another tough game on the road.

Two of Barnsley's centre-backs from that aforementioned day, Bobby Thomas and Kitching, are Coventry players now (though Kitching is suspended tonight). That adds to a feeling of fate.

Town's starting XI that evening was: Walton; Clarke, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis; Morsy, Luongo; Burns, Chaplin, Broadhead; Hirst. Eight or nine of those outfielders could be the same again this evening. That collective promotion pressure experience will hopefully count for something over these coming days.

McKenna's right though, this is the Championship, not League One. With respect, Coventry are not Barnsley. And Huddersfield are not Exeter. No-one should be counting their chickens.

Will Leif Davis be fit to face Coventry? (Image: Pagepix Ltd)

WHO PLAYS?

Leif Davis limped off late on in Saturday night's pulsating 3-3 draw at Hull after rolling his ankle. Fingers crossed Town's assist machine is fit to go again. If not, Harry Clarke may have to play in a slightly alien (but not completely unfamiliar) left-back role. The other option is to go with the ultra-fit and left-footed Cameron Humphreys. He hasn't started a game since Maidstone in late January though.

Seeing Wes Burns and George Hirst go straight into the starting line-up at Hull after recovering from hamstring injuries was a shock. Burns had been out for six weeks, while Hirst was playing for the first time Boxing Day. 

Medically, is it a risk starting them for a second time in four days? That's a big call. There will be a temptation to give it a go given they both played well in the reverse fixture and because their qualities are suited to this type of game on the road.

Kieffer Moore, no stranger to Championship promotion pressure after helping Bournemouth reach the big time, is the other forward option. 

Shifting Omari Hutchinson out to the right and then calling upon either Nathan Broadhead (who missed the Hull game with a 'slight knock') or Jeremy Sarmiento to play on the left looks to be the solution if Burns has to drop to the bench.