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RUMOUR : Newcastle will sign Coventry wonderkid Gary McSheffrey for £3m in January. The deal has already been done.

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Gary McAllister is expected to rest himself for Wednesday night's Worthington Cup clash with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Youssef Safri and John Eustace will play in the centre of midfield, with Craig Hignett in an advanced role behind lone striker Jay Bothroyd as Lee Mills is also expected to be rested.

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Coventry's on-loan winger Richie Partridge admits he is still aiming to make a name for himself at Liverpool.
The 22-year-old Irishman has scored twice during his spell with The Sky Blues and recently agreed to stay at Highfield Road for the whole season. But Partridge still has a burning ambition to make the grade at Anfield.
He said: "At the moment I am focusing on things here at Coventry. I have committed myself until the end of the season so I'm still looking forward to the rest of the campaign.
"It's a great league and it won't do me any harm whatsoever. I can only gain from it and hopefully it'll be a good stepping stone for me to play for Liverpool."
He added: "It is always at the back of my mind that I will be going back to Liverpool at the end of the season, which is where I want to play my football long-term. I am aiming for the top and still have a chance of fulfilling that dream."

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Coventry's Morten Hyldgaard believes the competition for the goalkeeper's jersey at Highfield Road is good for the club.
The giant Dane played the first eight league matches this season before Frenchman Fabien Debec took over after being signed from Rennes.
Debec then injured a finger in training, allowing Hyldgaard to play against Walsall and the towering keeper has managed to hang on to the number one spot since.
He said: "I played the first eight matches, but then Fabien was signed and he took over.
"I got my chance in the last couple of games and it is up to me to play well enough to hang on to it.
"Obviously it is good to have keen competition for places and if it was not Fabien it would be someone else.
"We get on fine, which is a good thing. Can you imagine spending every day with someone you might have fallen out with?"

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Blackburn boss Graeme Souness has backed Craig Hignett to prove himself a success at First Division outfit Coventry City.
Midfielder Hignett quit Ewood Park for a loan spell at Highfield Road last week after struggling to break into the Rovers first team this term.
The 32-year-old has been told that he can quit Rovers if the right offer comes along and Souness believes he will do a good job for Gary McAllister's outfit.
Souness said: "Coventry came in for Higgy and I let him go because he needs to be playing football.
"And I'm certain that he will do well for them because has a proven record in the First Division."
Hignett is hoping some impressive displays can earn him a permanent move away from Ewood Park.

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Coventry striker Julian Joachim is happy to settle for a place on the bench at Crystal Palace on Wednesday night after recovering from injury.
The former Aston Villa man played his first half hour of first-team football in three months at the weekend, coming off the bench to help City overcome Rotherham at Highfield Road.
And Joachim hopes to have some involvement in the clash at Selhurst Park, but admits it is too soon for him to stake a claim for a starting berth.
He said: "It is nice to be back playing and I am happy that we won at the weekend. It was also good for me to get a bit of fitness out of it.
"I see myself maybe coming off the bench for a few games as it would be impossible for me to play a full 90 minutes after missing 12 weeks with injury.
"I was quite happy with my performance and I hope I can be involved again tonight."
Joachim damaged his heel against Crystal Palace at Highfield Road earlier in the season. He had not pulled on a first-team shirt since until Saturday's appearance against Rotherham.

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Palace away tonight....

Although Palace are on great form and we are perhaps not, I think we will win tonight. A narrow 2-1 win to continue our great record at Selhurst Park. I assume you aren't going Glenn judging from the time of your last post.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> RUMOUR : Newcastle will sign Coventry wonderkid Gary McSheffrey for £3m in January. The deal has already been done. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I would be pretty pleased if that were true. £3m is a hell of a lot of money these days, and that would be a good deal. But obviously part of me is against it, January being a bad time to lose a good player...

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Full-time: Crystal Palace 3 Coventry 0
06 Nov 2002 22:00



Two goals from Andy Johnson helped Palace towards a convincing victory in tonight’s cup game against an out-of-sorts Coventry.

The last time City were at Selhurst Park, for the Wimbledon game in September, Gary McSheffrey had a chance to put his team ahead within the first minute and tonight Lee Mills had a golden opportunity to give City the lead after 30 seconds.

The move started with Gary McAllister who played a cross-field ball to Caldwell who in turn moved it on to Craig Hignett – making his first start for the Sky Blues up front. He crossed well for fellow forward Lee Mills who was free on the back post but he stabbed his effort wide of the far post.

Just a minute later and Hignett nearly found himself with a shooting opportunity when Macca played a quick free kick, but a Palace defender did well to get a block in. Then in the third minute came the best chance so far. Partridge used his pace to skin Darren Powell down the left wing and pulled a superb ball back towards Hignett.

The loan signing sped onto the ball but side-footed his effort over the bar from 12 yards out. City had started well but Hignett’s reaction indicated he knew he should have done better.

Palace had been rattled by such quick and early dominance from the visitors but managed to build a couple of attacks of their own, and it was man-of-the moment Andy Johnson at the heart of both moves. Firstly he had a shot from 25 yards easily gathered by Hyldgaard and shortly after the big Dane was quick off his line to gather at the feet of the former Birmingham striker.

Coventry then countered well and when Partridge played a quick free kick into Mills’ feet inside the area he showed good movement to find space for a shot but put it straight at Kolinko.

After a frantic opening ten minutes, largely dominated by the Sky Blues the game settled down slightly although City enjoyed the majority of possession and were playing some excellent football. On 19 minutes Konjic had a pop from 25 yards which went just over the bar but a minute later City went a goal down.

Davenport played a seemingly harmless backpass to Hyldgaard but he sliced his clearance high into the air. The ball fell to Freedman who had a shot from 20 yards blocked by Konjic, but the ball deflected to Adebola who crossed to Johnson at the far post who made no mistake and headed into the net.

It was an unexpected goal and an unfortunate one because Coventry had largely dominated until that point and afterwards their seemed to be less verve about the game, with the exception of one Palace attack on 23 minutes. Freedman was played clear through on goal and hammered in a low, powerful shot across the face of Hyldgaard, which fortunately went just wide.

It signalled the end of the evening for the Palace forward who left the pitch with an apparent thigh strain and was replaced up front by Julian Gray. Coventry’s attacks had become more sporadic but again Partridge looked capable of creating the most for the Sky Blues. On 27 minutes he broke and crossed well for Mills who volleyed wide from close range.

The final 15 minutes of the half passed by without major incident and Palace went in with a one-goal lead.

The second half started in much the same way the first had ended – with plenty of action in midfield but not a great deal of attacking. On 48 minutes Riihilahti had a good chance to put Palace two ahead. Mullins crossed well from the left but the midfielder planted his effort straight at Hyldgaard from six yards out.

It was a let-off for City and they began to fight their way back into the game again with some midfield battling, not least by Macca who was again leading by example. The half was only ten minutes old when City made their first change, bringing Bothroyd on for Mills who had worked hard but looked tired in the early stages of the second period.

Coventry were not making a great deal of chances whereas Palace were now the team creating opportunities, and like City in the first 45 minutes, guilty of missing them. On 64 minutes Adebola crossed from the right but Johnson could not keep his header down.

Just afterwards the two combined well again but this time Johnson slotted his effort wide from just inside the area after playing a good one-two with his fellow striker. City were now chasing the game and as a result Macca pushed up front alongside Hignett, with substitute Chippo playing in centre midfield. Bothroyd played down the left with Partridge switching to the right.

The change of personnel and positions did not really produce a great deal for the Sky Blues but on 72 minutes Hignett had his sides’ best chance since the opening half- hour. Partridge put a lovely deep cross in but Michopoulos tipped Hignett’s resulting header over the bar.

Three minutes later and Palace had their second and it was a terrific solo effort by Johnson. He cut in from the left and weaved past a couple of City men before hitting a good low strike off Hyldgaard’s inside post into the goal. It was Johnson’s ninth goal in four games and put the game beyond Coventry.

City continued to look for a way through but never looked likely to threaten the Palace goal a great deal and on 88 minutes Palace got a third. Hyldgaard saved well from Thomson but Gray was on hand to tuck the ball home.

Palace had played well in the second half but City looked extremely below par as they looked to get back into the game. The result was a fair one but gives Macca some thinking to do before Saturday’s league outing at Burnley.



Coventry: Hyldgaard; Gordon; Konjic; Partridge; Hignett; McAllister; Mills (Bothroyd 55); Safri; Kerr (Chippo 58); Caldwell (Eustace 82); Davenport.

Subs not used: Debec; Shaw

Booked: Safri, Bothroyd

Crystal Palace: Kolinko (Michopoulos 46); Granville; Butterfield; Popovic; Mullins; Johnson; Freedman (Gray 25); Derry; Riihilahti (Thomson 62); Adebola; Powell.

Subs not used: ; Symons; Black

Referee: Mr R Styles

Attendance: 8,102

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Gary McAllister was left regretting a number of early missed chances last night as the Sky Blues crashed out of the Worthington Cup, losing 3-0 to Crystal Palace.

The home team dominated for longer periods than City but Macca’s men had enough clearcut chances in the opening ten minutes to be at least three goals ahead.


'We had a good start and we were disappointed not to go in front,' said Macca. 'I counted two or three really good chances. My coaches told me we possibly had four or five but from where I was we definitely had three first class opportunities. At any level you’ve got to take your chances and finish teams when you’re playing well and it’s something we’re not doing at the moment. For all our good play and neat passing we’re not clinical enough.

'Craig Hignett had two or three half chances and one very good one. We’ve got to realise he’s coming from reserve team football. He’s not had many chances at Blackburn this season and even though he’s coming from the Premier Reserve League it’s a massive step up to this level. He’s now had one and a half games and he’s just got to get used to the First Division.'

If ever there was a case of a goal changing a game, last night was it. In the opening exchanges Coventry were by far the better side, but after Hyldgaard’s mistake led to Palace’s first goal, Macca noticed the effect it had on his team.

'We can’t keep coming from a goal behind. It was a bad goal to lose and I could see it did drain the players a wee bit. In the first 10 or 15 minutes we looked good but when we were playing on the back foot we struggled a bit and they always looked dangerous and capable. We still passed the ball pretty well but we didn’t look that threatening in the second half.'

Coventry struggled to keep up with Palace’s fast attackers, especially in the second period although Macca refused to use the number of games the Sky Blues have been playing as an excuse and instead is looking ahead to the weekend.

'We can’t use that as an excuse because it’s the same for everybody. Palace are experiencing the same thing and they’ve got a similar sized squad to us so tiredness shouldn’t be a problem.

'There’s a lot’s of ifs and buts in football. Hopefully it’ll be swings and roundabouts as the season progresses because there might be games where we start poorly and go up field and nick a goal. It’s just part of the game, we’ve got to accept it and move onto the next one.

'Every game in this league is a tough one and they keep on coming. We’ve got to pick ourselves up ready to travel to Burnley at the weekend. Our away form in the league is pretty good so it’s been a disappointing night because we wanted to get a cup run going to help boost our league performances but it wasn’t to be and we’ll just crack on and look forward to the next game.'

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Coventry City will face Leicester City at home in the Third Round of the FA Youth Cup.

The tie, which has to be played by December 7, will take place at Highfield Road.

Both sides enter the Youth Cup at the Third Round stage.

The Sky Blues have a good recent history in the competition, reaching the final in 1999 and 2000, as well as winning the FA Youth Cup in 1987 - the same year the senior side lifted the FA Cup.

Coventry City has also been runner-up on two other occasions, falling at the final hurdle to Burnley and Spurs in 1968 and 1970 respectively.

Academy Director Steve Ogrizovic described the fixture with the Foxes as a ‘mouth-watering’ tie.

'It’s always great to have a home draw and it certainly whets the appetite that it is a local derby.

'Leicester have a good Academy set-up and this is sure to be a tough test for our boys.

'This is the competition every youth side in the country wants to win and we’ll be approaching this game fully-focussed and ready to give 100%.'