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Coventry City boss Gary McAllister is resting himself for the Crystal Palace game and Lee Hughes starts up front alongside Julian Joachim.
The City boss is not taking any risks having picked up a hamstring strain last weekend at Reading and Lee Hughes will continue to lead the City frontline.
Coventry City: Hyldgaard, Gordon, Konjic, Shaw, Eustace, Thompson, Joachim, Hughes, Chippo, Safri, Davenport.
Subs: Montgomery, Quinn, Walsh, McSheffrey, Bothroyd
Crystal Palace: Clarke, Fleming, Granville, Butterfield, Popovic, Mullins, Freedman, Derry, Riihilahti, Adebola, Powell.
Subs: Kolinko, Johnson, Thomson, Black, Austin
A Coventry City side minus player manager Gary McAllister, but including Lee Hughes took on Crystal Palace today at Highfield Road looking to extend their unbeaten run to four games.
And it was the Sky Blues who got the first half to a brilliant start with a goal after just 5 minutes, and it was the man at the centre of all the transfer speculation that won it and scored it. Lee Hughes picked the ball up in the penalty area, turned inside Darren Powell and was brought down by the big Palace defender. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and it was Hughes that stepped up to take the spotkick. He made no mistake and coolly slotted it in the right hand corner of the net with the keeper going the wrong way.
It gave the Sky Blues the impetus to move forward and the midfield were clearly enjoying passing the ball about. Chippo put a beautiful cross in after good build up between Gordon and Hughes but Thommo put the resulting header just wide of the far post.
City nearly increased their lead two minutes later when Youssef Safri hammered a sweet 25-yard drive just over the bar and a brilliant move on 12 minutes nearly unlocked the Eagles defence again. Richard Shaw swept a cross in from the right, Hughes nodded it back across goal and Chippo looked certain to score until Matt Clarke threw himself bravely in front of the Moroccan to block hi goal-bound header.
McAllister must have been pleased with his side’s play in the opening 20 minutes, but Crystal Palace began to snuff out City’s moves as the half progressed. Palace created their first clear cut opening after 23 minutes but Danny Granville put his header wide from Freedman’s cross. Coventry continued to search for openings and looked to exploit the pace of Joachim. A series of good passes from midfield nearly set him free but Matt Clarke was always quick off his line to deny City.
A free-kick in a harmless position was brought forward 10 yards by the referee with half an hour gone, and three City players all fancied their chances. It was ex-Palace boy Dean Gordon who struck a sweet 30-yard drive but Clarke collected comfortably.
Palace began to find a rhythm of their own towards the end of the half. City’s big central rearguard were having no trouble clearing aerial balls but looked more susceptible to passing moves. Palace looked to have equalised with just four minutes to go in the half, but Popovic’s goal was ruled out. The referee adjudged he had handled while controlling the ball and Coventry took a slender one-goal lead into the break.
With Coventry perhaps ruing some of their missed chances in the opening 20 minutes of the first half they started the second in lively fashion. Just three minutes after the restart Lee Hughes broke down the right and swept a cross into the near post, but Joachim could not steer his shot goalwards.
Youssef Safri picked up a yellow card on 53 minutes, giving Palace a free kick in a central area 25 yards from goal. Freedman took it but his effort clipped the outside of the wall and fell harmlessly away.
Jay Bothroyd was sent on to partner Lee Hughes with just over half an hour remaining, with Julian Joachim moving out to the right, and the change nearly set Hughes free immediately. He chased down a good through ball and when Clarke and Fleming clashed it looked like the City striker would pick up the loose ball but Mullins managed to clear.
Palace continued to pass the ball well but the City defence looked more comfortable clearing those dangers. Davenport again looked accomplished in central defence, bringing the ball clear and setting up some useful attacks. He put Joachim away on 62 minutes and his pace took him clear of two Palace defenders, but there was nobody on the end of his cross.
Just a minute later Coventry’s disciplinary problems worsened when Youssef Safri picked up his second yellow card for an innocent looking challenge on Freedman and was given his marching orders by referee Phil Prosser. The decision clearly upset the Moroccan and enraged the City fans who gave him a round of applause while leaving the field.
The game looked as if it might get out of hand for a while, with Thommo receiving a yellow card for dissent after Mr Prosser gave a Palace corner when a Mullins shot didn’t seem to hit a Sky Blue player. Palace looked to have equalised on 65 minutes when a Granville shot took a series of deflections and seemed to be resting in the back of the net. Luckily for City it had deflected into the side netting and only gave Palace a corner.
The Coventry management felt some changes were required and brought Barry Quinn and Steve Walsh on to sure things up, leaving Bothroyd up front alone. It seemed to do the job as Coventry got over that initial period of anxiety and settled back into their game. Palace continued to throw everything at City with Andy Johnson looking particularly lively.
They did not really make any clear cut chances though following the sending off and Coventry were not struggling too badly being a man down. A Freedman effort went well wide with 10 minutes to go, but it was City who could have sealed it in stoppage time. Thommo was put clear in stoppage time but opted to shoot when a pass to the City men either side of him would have been a better option.
The four minutes of stoppage time elapsed without any major threats from Palace and 10-man City deservedly held out for three points. The game was not the most entertaining, with very few shots on target in the second period but Coventry did well to extend their winning start to the campaign.
ean Gordon
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