It’s often said that there are no easy games in the Championship, although Leeds United might argue differently after cruising past Coventry City at the weekend.
But there’s no point in dwelling on the disappointment at Elland Road. The Sky Blues have the perfect opportunity to get back on it when they entertain Blackburn Rovers on home soil on Tuesday night, the first of two games this week at the CBS Arena with Sheffield Wednesday the opponents this coming Saturday.
In John Eustace’s third placed Rovers, however, City are facing one of the form teams of the division, having not lost a single game of their seven league matches to date this term. That run has seen them chalk up four wins – all at Ewood Park – and three draws on their travels so far.
The City boss stuck with his outfield line-up that started so well against Spurs when faced with the Swans a few days later, and then made seven changes, including the goalkeeper, for the weekend’s dismal trip to West Yorkshire. So what will he do on Tuesday night?
Well, having replaced Oliver Dovin with Ben Wilson for the first time in goal for a league game, explaining that he wanted a bigger voice on the pitch, it’s difficult to see the manger changing things again, albeit Wilson conceded three goals. To be fair to the experienced stopper, he was pretty exposed for two of them, although he might have done better on the other occasion.
There’s a case for changes to the back four, however, where Milan van Ewijk is expected to drop back to his more natural right-back position, having started wide right of the forward three against Leeds, while Jake Bidwell should return to left-back to provide a bit of old fashioned grit and experience in place of Jay Dasilva.
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Bobby Thomas, one of the few players to come out with a smidgen of credit from the weekend, is expected to keep his place in central defence where there’s a strong argument for Luis Binks to return alongside him in place of Liam Kitching.
Although Ben Sheaf wasn’t at his best on Saturday – understandably rusty due to a lack of game time – the skipper needs to get up to speed and is likely to make the starting line-up alongside Josh Eccles, although Victor Torp is another option, as is Joel Latibeaudiere, who moved into the midfield during the second half at Elland Road.
Jack Rudoni can also play deeper, of course, but that leaves a hole in the number ten role. Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and Brandon Thomas-Asante appear to be battling it out on the right flank while Haji Wright will be favourite to start in place of Ephron Mason-Clark on the left. That leaves either Ellis Simms, who struggled to impose himself on Saturday, and Norman Bassette as the two options to lead the line. If we could guarantee the same level of performance as he showed against Spurs, Bassette would be ideal to make a return.
Predicted City team v Blackburn: Ben Wilson; Milan van Ewijk, Bobby Thomas, Luis Binks, Jake Bidwell; Josh Eccles, Ben Sheaf; Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, Jack Rudoni, Haji Wright; Norman Bassette.
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