Football sure has a warped sense of humour sometimes and nowhere is that more evident than at Highbury Stadium this weekend where incoming Fleetwood Town boss Steven Pressley makes his bow against who else but the club that dispensed of his services last March, Coventry City. Already a crucial fixture, the game on Saturday afternoon has taken on a new level of importance with both sides eager for 3 points.
Fleetwood Town v Coventry City – Highbury Stadium – Saturday 10 October 2015 – 15:00pm
Team News
Fleetwood Town
Caretaker manager Chris Lucketti made 5 changes to the starting line up for the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy victory over Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday and so it will be interesting to see just how much Steven Pressley decides to tinker with a team that recorded only Fleetwood’s 3rd victory in all competitions.
Pressley will certainly be without striker Declan McManus and right back Conor McLaughlin who are both away on international duty for Scotland Under-21s and Northern Ireland respectively.
One change that could be made is to give the youngster Ash Hunter a staring role tomorrow afternoon after the 19 year old came off the bench to grab the winning goal against Shrewsbury.
Just like Fleetwood, Coventry’s starting XI will be changed from the one that ran out 3-0 victors last Saturday with the vibrant Ryan Kent and prolific Adam Armstrong, top goalscorer in League 1, both away on England youth international duty.
Mowbray decided to make 6 changes in the penalty shoot out defeat to Yeovil on Tuesday and it is fully expected that defenders Reda Johnson and Chris Stokes and holding midfielder Romain Vincelot will all return to the team. Also likely is that Marc Antoine Fortune will be back in the Sky Blues line up after recovering from a slight knock to his foot inflicted during what was a highly impressive display from the front man last weekend.
Marcus Tudgay looks likely to replace Armstrong up front.
Form
Both sides have had a contrast in fortunes this season which is reflected in the league position of the 2 clubs. Fleetwood find themselves languishing in 23rd and without a win in 7 league games whilst the Sky Blues are nestled nicely in the play off places, sitting 5th with a game in hand on the teams around them. With that in mind, an away win looks a likely result tomorrow however recently, Coventry have struggled on the road and have suffered 2 narrow defeats on the spin against Bury and Scunthorpe. Equally, Fleetwood fans will be hoping a new manager bounce, alongside a pleasing win in the week will drive the Town players on to record their first home victory in the league since August.
Last time around
17th March 2015- Fleetwood 0-2 Coventry City
On a bitterly cold St Patricks night, Coventry recorded a surprising 2-0 victory at Highbury which severely damaged Fleetwood’s chances of pushing for a play off place and equally dragged City that little bit further away from the relegation places. 2 late goals from Dominic Samuel and Franck Nouble, both of whom are no longer at the club, was enough for the points to be taken back down the M6 to Coventry with Mowbray full of praise after the game for his new sides desire, effort and work rate.
From the dugout
At his unveiling as new Fleetwood Town manager, Steven Pressley talked of the amazing scenarios that football can throw up in relation to his first game in charge coming against his former club. Pressley showed no sign that he is a man with a grudge against his former employers, instead he was full of praise for the work Mowbray has done at Coventry since replacing him and also expressed the enjoyment he had in his 2 years at the club. This, despite the difficult circumstances the club faced during his tenure.
Pressley told the official Fleetwood Town website:
“I’m expecting a tough game as they’ve recruited a number of players since I’ve left, so the team has changed considerably.
“They’re a very good team but haven’t been so good on their travels, so will be determined to put that right however we need to win and hopefully we can do that.”
Tony Mowbray was equally full of praise for his counterpart in the dugout tomorrow telling the Coventry Telegraph that during his time at Coventry City, Pressley did a magnificent job in trying circumstances and called on Coventry fans to show respect to the former manager.
Prediction
With Steven Pressley’s arrival, the match has taken on an even greater importance. Whilst full of respect for his former employers, Pressley must be desperate to get off to winning ways tomorrow and with Coventry’s travelling woes of late, Fleetwood should be reasonably confident of doing just that. Coventry have really been stung by the international call ups to both Armstrong and Kent who have recently been City’s prominent attacking weapon since Kent joined the club from Liverpool. It is going to be fascinating to see how well Fleetwood respond to the arrival of their new manager and how Coventry can cope without some crucial players to the side.
