Not for the first time this season, Mark Robins left his opposite number and fans alike scratching their heads after naming his Coventry City starting line-up against Luton Town.
With all four centre-halves on the teamsheet the obvious conclusion was that Joel Latibeaudiere would be deployed in midfield – the position he plays regularly for his country, Jamaica. Failing that, possibly deploying Luis Binks at left-back in a flat four.
Few, if any, would have imagined Liam Kitching playing as a wing-back in a 3-4-1-2 system that saw another curve ball thrown in with Tatsuhiro Sakamoto playing more centrally as a number ten rather than out on the wing. Given Kitching’s withdrawal at the break, however, it’s fairly safe to say that the Sky Blues centre-half is unlikely to be asked to fill in in such an unfamiliar role again.
Jack Rudoni was the man to replace him, interestingly, and that worked a treat as the attacking midfielder had a hand in two of City’s three second half goals, sending in the near post corner for Ellis Simms to score before beating his man and picking out the striker in the box again, this time to flick it forward to Haji Wright to scramble the winner over the line.
So what will the manager have up his sleeve this weekend when the Sky Blues head to the Riverside Stadium looking to back up their confidence-boosting performance and victory over the Hatters?
Well, first things first, there’s unlikely to be a change in goal where Oliver Dovin performed admirably at the weekend. And given Ben Wilson’s continued absence due to a knee ligament injury, the Swede is expected to be the first name on the teamsheet.
Robins has played a back three in the last three games with varying degrees of success (one win, one draw and one defeat) and it makes sense to stick with that system as the team continue their recovery from a poor start to the season, all of which means he’s likely to keep with Latibeaudiere and Binks either side of Bobby Thomas.
Milan van Ewijk was back to his best at the weekend and really does need to continue to hit those heights on a consistent basis, so he’s a shoo-in at right wing-back while Rudoni might just have played himself into a new position after such an effective impact on Saturday. Jay Dasilva, of course, if the more natural option if the manager is minded to return Rudoni to his previous number ten slot.
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