Preview: Coventry City vs Exeter City (League Cup)

City left it late again, but Nicky Law’s stunning strike at Stevenage meant Matt Taylor’s side are one of three in League Two on maximum points after the first two matches. Attention now turns to the EFL Cup and a trip to one of a number of “crisis clubs” with the possibility of a match against a Premier League club for the winners. Taylor used last season’s competition to blood some of his younger players, with Archie Collins in particular the beneficiary of this experience as he forced his way into the first team reckoning. Taylor may again choose to rotate his squad, with the likes of Johnny Maxted set for a debut while Ben Seymour is another name possibly in the frame for a start.

While not in the same financial situation as the likes of Bury and Bolton in their division, Coventry very nearly didn’t make it to the starting line themselves this season due to the ongoing row between the club’s owners and the landlords at the Ricoh Arena, which saw them turfed out once again. The EFL said an agreement for a home ground had to be in place or the Sky Blues risked being expelled – fortunately for Coventry’s sake Birmingham City came to the rescue and Coventry are therefore playing home fixtures at St Andrews until further notice. Against that backdrop Mark Robins has engineered four points from their opening two fixtures, although a 0-0 draw against a Bolton side for whom no senior players turned out was perhaps not that impressive. Matt Godden, signed last week from Peterborough, will be hoping to make his first start at his new club on Tuesday night aiming to recapture his form having scored just four times in 2019 while at Peterborough after finding the net 14 times in the first half of the season. Otherwise Coventry may also use the opportunity to blood fringe players.

The last meeting between the sides was an occasion for City supporters to forget as, for the second successive season, the playoff final saw City get stage fright at Wembley, going down 3-1 to a Coventry side that was superior in every department on the day in what turned out to be Paul Tisdale’s final match at the club. Willis, Shipley and Grimmer put the tie beyond doubt before Kyle Edwards scored a late consolation. The league spoils were shared that season – Coventry winning 2-0 at the Ricoh Arena (Brown OG, Kelly-Evans) before City gained revenge through Ryan Harley. This is the first time the sides have met in the various iterations of the League Cup.

Match officials for this game are:-

Referee: Scott Oldham
Assistant Referees: Darren Wilding and Declan Ford
Fourth Official: Sam Lewis

Just the one game in charge of Exeter, and that was earlier this year https://www.grecians.co.uk/wordpress/?sp_event=exeter-city-vs-colchester-united-8