Coventry City v Doncaster Rovers Match Preview
by Adam Stubbings
A stirring second half performance on Tuesday night to see off Chesterfield has Rovers in confident mood after the disappointment of the defeat against Rochdale last weekend. The 3-0 win ensured a miserable return to the Keepmoat for former manager Dean Saunders, and moved us up to 16th in the table and finally starting to show some capability of pushing on into the top half heading into the Christmas period.
Winning a fourth league game in five outings will not be an easy task though, as Rovers travel to face the league leaders. Coventry City. The Sky Blues are on a 10-game unbeaten run in League One stretching back to the end of September, going top of the pile last Saturday with a thumping 4-1 win over Gillingham to leapfrog their opponents. Coventry have endured years of struggle and are currently looking to end an unwanted record of finishing outside of the top 6 in their division for 48 successive seasons, dating back to a 1967 2nd Division title win. Right now they look well placed to finally end that rut, but this purple patch surely has to come to an end at some stage and what better time than against the Rovers?
We did the double over Coventry last season, including a 2-0 victory on Boxing Day at a cold Keepmoat, but our only victories over the Sky Blues in four Championship seasons together were our first and last meetings with them – the first one of our first wins back in the second tier courtesy of a rare Richie Wellens screamer, and the last the game that relegated Coventry to League One the week after our own demise had been confirmed.
Nathan Tyson and Andy Williams both scored in the win over Chesterfield, which is just as well as our attacking options have become severely limited since the injury suffered by Keshi Anderson against Rochdale has seen his loan spell at the club cut short. The team is performing well at present with wing backs Ceddy Evina and Felipe Mattioni both impressive last time out, so it is perhaps fortunate for Rovers that the team is picking itself right now. A very young bench is likely to be needed again this weekend, but manager Darren Ferguson is looking to bring in another body, possibly a free agent with the loan window closing on Thursday.
