Coventry v Middlesbrough: Championship playoff semi-final – live –
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Middlesbrough (probable 4-2-3-1): Steffen; Smith, McNair, Lenihan, Giles; Mowatt, Hackney; Jones, Akpom, McGree; Archer. Subs: Roberts, Fry, Barlaser, Dijksteel, Forss, Crooks, Bola.
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So both XIs are unchanged from the 1-1 draw at the Riverside on the final day of the regular season but there are a couple of important returns on the Boro bench – forward Marcus Forss, who has missed the last three games, and centre-back Dael Fry, who has been out since March.
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Ah the play-offs. It’s really not a stretch to say that in terms of sheer excitement and drama these really are the best fixtures in the British football calendar.
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A quick recap of the weekend so far: Things kicked off on Friday night with promotion dreams being broken by 4-0 thumpings north and south of the border: Peterborough’s extraordinary win over 96-point Sheffield Wednesday surely consigning the Owls to another season in League One (save for something even more remarkable happening in the second leg) and Partick denying Queen’s Park a return to the top flight after 65 years.
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On Saturday Sunderland came from behind to beat Luton in their first leg, Hamilton came back from 3-0 down on aggregate to beat Alloa 5-3 in the Scottish Championship and the main event was the madcap National League final at Wembley where Notts County somehow scraped past Chesterfield on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
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So expectations are high for this one. Middlesbrough and Coventry finished fourth and fifth respectively in the Championship, but there’s no doubt about who are the form team. Mark Robins’s City side have lost just once since 3 February – a run of one defeat in 17 games that saw only the top two pick up more points. Boro, on the other hand, have someone stuttered of late after at one point looking like threatening the automatic spots. Michael Carrick’s team have won only twice in their last eight games.
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It should be a good ‘un. Kick-off is at 12noon BST.
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Key events
4 min: The home side get their collective foot on the ball for the first time but Callum Doyle – one of two 19-year-olds in the Coventry XI – plants his pass out of play. Fair to say it’s been a nervy start.
3 min: City captain Liam Kelly brings down Akpom in midfield as the teams look to settle. Boro’s subsequent free-kick is lumped straight out of play.
1 min: Boro’s Cameron Archer – a revelation since joining on loan from Aston Villa in January – looks to get free down the left channel but strays offside.
Peep! Off we go then, Boro get things under way.
The players are in the tunnel at the Coventry Building Society Arena … and out they come into the sunshine. It’s not really a venue you think of as “intimidating” for away teams but it does look in fine fettle today with the stands pretty rammed.
Here’s Michael Carrick talking to Sky Sports pre-match: “We’re not taking anything for granted. Coventry are a really good team. Expect the unexpected.”
And here’s Mark Robins: “We want to enjoy it and do what we normally do, play the game not the occasion. It’s going to be an intriguing game.”
There are plenty of ways to frame this contest but perhaps the most obvious is that it’s a battle between the Championship’s two leading scorers. Viktor Gyokeres seems certain to be in the Premier League next season one way or another after 21 goals and 10 assists for City, while Middlesbrough’s Chuba Akpom – after a much-travelled and largely goal-free start to his career – has caught fire this season, scoring 28 times from his role just off the front man.
In truth, though, this is a clash of styles. Boro have been freescoring from all areas – only runaway champions Burnley scored more – but porous at the back: even 16th-placed Stoke had a better defensive record. Coventry, meanwhile, have been all about solidity, Ben Wilson’s 20 clean sheets this season the most in the division.
The teams
Coventry (probable 3-5-2): Wilson; McNally, Doyle, McFadzean; Norton-Cuffy, Hamer, Kelly, Eccles, Bidwell; Godden, Gyokeres. Subs: Moore, Panzo, Allen, Wilson-Esbrand, Sheaf, Maguire, Dabo.
Middlesbrough (probable 4-2-3-1): Steffen; Smith, McNair, Lenihan, Giles; Mowatt, Hackney; Jones, Akpom, McGree; Archer. Subs: Roberts, Fry, Barlaser, Dijksteel, Forss, Crooks, Bola.
So both XIs are unchanged from the 1-1 draw at the Riverside on the final day of the regular season but there are a couple of important returns on the Boro bench – forward Marcus Forss, who has missed the last three games, and centre-back Dael Fry, who has been out since March.
Preamble
Ah the play-offs. It’s really not a stretch to say that in terms of sheer excitement and drama these really are the best fixtures in the British football calendar.
A quick recap of the weekend so far: Things kicked off on Friday night with promotion dreams being broken by 4-0 thumpings north and south of the border: Peterborough’s extraordinary win over 96-point Sheffield Wednesday surely consigning the Owls to another season in League One (save for something even more remarkable happening in the second leg) and Partick denying Queen’s Park a return to the top flight after 65 years.
On Saturday Sunderland came from behind to beat Luton in their first leg, Hamilton came back from 3-0 down on aggregate to beat Alloa 5-3 in the Scottish Championship and the main event was the madcap National League final at Wembley where Notts County somehow scraped past Chesterfield on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
So expectations are high for this one. Middlesbrough and Coventry finished fourth and fifth respectively in the Championship, but there’s no doubt about who are the form team. Mark Robins’s City side have lost just once since 3 February – a run of one defeat in 17 games that saw only the top two pick up more points. Boro, on the other hand, have someone stuttered of late after at one point looking like threatening the automatic spots. Michael Carrick’s team have won only twice in their last eight games.
It should be a good ‘un. Kick-off is at 12noon BST.
