Next Up: Exeter City vs Coventry City

The FA Cup dream fizzled out for another year with West Brom easing through after an efficient first half display, meaning Paul Tisdale can now concentrate fully on the league, having seen his City side drop out of the playoff places last weekend. The departure of Reuben Reid to Forest Green came somewhat out of left field and, with no replacement signed at time of writing (nor any agreement yet with West Brom over extending the loans of Kane Wilson and Kyle Edwards), Tisdale’s options have been somewhat reduced. Ryan Brunt enjoyed a bit of game time in a midweek friendly with Brentford but it will surely be too soon for him to return, although Robbie Simpson gained valuable pitch time (and a goal) which may mean he features at some point on Saturday. Skipper Jordan Moore-Taylor lost his race to be fit for West Brom but will be edging closer to a return.

Installed amongst the pre-season favourites due mainly to the size of the club relative to most of their competitors, Coventry are just starting to show signs that this is justified, and go into Saturday’s match in third place in the table, albeit City will go ahead of the Sky Blues should they win. Further to that Mark Robins’ side did what City couldn’t do on Saturday and overcame Premier League opposition in the FA Cup, a match that cost Stoke’s Mark Hughes his job, while there finally appears to be good news off the pitch for their fans with rumours of a takeover in the offing. Robins has had to cope with the loss of Haitian International Duckens Nazon, recalled to parent club Wolves, but has covered this with the loan signing of Brighton’s Jordan Maguire-Drew. The current key player, however, is Marc McNulty, who has been in blistering form of late and has 12 goals in all competitions.

The reverse fixture took place in September, and saw high-flying City put in their place with a 2-0 defeat thanks to a Troy Brown OG and a late goal from Devon Kelly-Evans. Given the gulf between the sides it was way back in January 1959 when Coventry last made the trip to the Park, losing 2-1. It’s the Sky Blues who hold the Football League head-to-head lead with 15 wins to City’s 11 (nine draws).