Coventry City Vs Preston North End
Coca-Cola Championship Saturday 13th September 2008.
Alan Irvine may have considered the international break as somewhat of a disruption for his team, especially after his side were gathering momentum and seemingly putting Preston's early season ghost to rest. The Lilywhites will be full of confidence after seeing off Charlton Athletic in an impressive win at Deepdale just under a fortnight ago and consequently, Irvine and his men will be eager to continue their good form when they take on Chris Coleman's Coventry City on Saturday at the Ricoh.
The Sky Blues welcome North End on the back of three straight defeats in all competitions and so will be looking to rain in Preston's parade as they look to get back on track.
Previous Meetings
Just over a year ago, Preston visited the Ricoh after suffering three straight defeats in hope of stopping the unwanted run in its tracks, sadly for Paul Simpson that wasn't to be the case. Patrick Agyemang put North End ahead after 16 minutes with a well taken finish which appeared to be enough. However with just 10 minutes left, Dele Adebola equalised for the Sky Blues before Michael Doyle netted the winner with on 85 minutes to break Preston hearts.
However, Preston got their own back when the Sky Blues visited Deepdale in February. Centre half Sean St Ledger scored the only goal of the game after 12 minutes to seal the points for Preston. In total, Preston have come up against Coventry 27 times with Preston having the slight advantage in terms of wins with 10 over Coventry's 9. However when Preston have been the visitors, it has been City that have enjoyed the more wins with 7 as opposed to Preston's 3.
Head to Head
Assuming that Irvine sticks to his 'keep the shirt' policy, I expect new boy Jon Parkin to retain his place alongside Neil Mellor in attack. If this does prove to be the case then Elliott Ward, the 22 year old former West Ham defender will have to be on his game if he is to thwart the beast in his tracks. Parkin was a real handful against Charlton and so with that in mind, these two should put on an intriguing battle that's for sure.
Team News
Stephen Elliott is expected to be in the 16 man squad with Jon Parkin continuing in attack alongside Neil Mellor. Despite pulling out of the Scotland squad, Callum Davidson could be in contention to slot in at left back as he should be fit in time. Chris Brown is not expected to feature as Irvine does not want to risk bringing him back to early from recovering from a back injury.
There are no fresh injury worries for Alan Irvine who will be buoyed with the news that Liam Chilvers featured for the reserves last week.
As far as Coventry are concerned, Leon Best is in contention to start after making a substitute appearance against Doncaster Rovers in Coventry's last game. However, Stephen Wright and Jay Tabb will miss out through their respective injuries (Achilles and blisters).
Freddy Eastwood could make a return with Chris Coleman monitoring his progress from recovering from a groin strain very closely. Isaac Osborne featured for the reserves last week and could also be called upon.