[retired_smitchell78]

Match preview: Burnley
08 Nov 2002 11:04




Coventry City returns to league action this weekend against Burnley and the Sky Blues will be hoping to make amends for Wednesday night’s defeat which saw their Worthington Cup run come to an end.

Gary McAllister is hoping that City will become more ruthless in front of goal after dominating the opening exchanges in the game against Crystal Palace and seeing some golden opportunities missed.

'We’ve got to learn to capitalise when were having good spells during games. We’ve got to score and make teams suffer because we suffered yet again on Wednesday night for not taking our chances in a similar way to the Norwich and Leicester games.'

The Sky Blues face a Burnley side who have lost their last three league games but the Coventry boss is aware of the danger Stan Ternent’s side possesses, as Spurs found out on Wednesday night when The Clarets ended their involvement in the Worthington Cup.

'They got a great result against Tottenham and they’ve got some good players. We’ve had them watched quite a lot because they are one of the teams that did very well last season and we thought would be a threat this time around.

'Although the team has started very slowly they’re coming into their own now. Little and Blake are the two players to watch. I think they combine well and there’s a good understanding between the two of them.'

City are likely to be without one of their top goalscorers for the trip north as Jay Bothroyd is struggling to overcome a slight injury he picked up in the game against Palace. Julian Joachim is also ruled out after a reoccurrence of an ankle injury.

However, the Sky Blues’ influential player/manager is confident he can again make his mark on the game.

'Jay’s a doubt for the weekend. He picked up a knock last night, which will probably rule him out for Saturday.

'I feel good. The big plus for me is I’m still playing and I feel competitive. I feel I can still effect games in this division.'

With two strikers out, Gary McSheffrey returns to the squad to join Lee Mills and Craig Hignett in the competition for a place up front. After sitting out the past three games, McAllister is hoping the Coventry kid will be back with a fresh hunger.

'We’re looking for a response from the likes of Gary McSheffrey. He has a lot of ability and is a natural finisher. He’s just got to focus and concentrate on his all round game and understand that it’s not just about scoring goals.

'He’s got to lead the line for us, whether it be with his pace, his cleverness or his movement.'

City know that every game counts and will be looking for three points tomorrow as they try to strengthen their push for promotion.

'We’ve got to improve and grab more points. There have been a few draws and we need to improve at Highfield Road. Away from home our form is as good as any but if we can tighten up here at home and start scoring a few goals we can definitely improve on our points tally.'

[retired_smitchell78]

Having dumped Tottenham Hotspur out of the Worthington Cup, Burnley go into tomorrow’s game with the Sky Blues with their tails well and truly up.

The Premiership scalp should not be underestimated. Spurs travelled to Turf Moor with a strong first team squad and Stan Ternent’s men showed great character to come from a goal down to win the tie.

Key man in the impressive victory was midfielder Glen Little who stepped off the bench shortly after Gus Poyet’s 17th minute opener and changed the game. The 27-year-old play-maker described his performance as “the best 65 minutes of his career” and he will clearly be the man to stop tomorrow afternoon.

The win brought a halt to three successive league defeats which had followed an impressive run of 12 unbeaten games in all competitions.

Leading scorer Robbie Blake, who grabbed the equaliser on Wednesday night, is in a rich vein of form following a poor start to the season. The former prolific strike partner of Lee Mills from their days at Bradford has six goals to his name and is now forging an excellent partnership with five goal Gareth Taylor who leads the line.

Taylor has recently played his way back into the Wales squad and is considered one of the best headers of the ball in the division. He also scored in both games against City last season.

Ternent switches his side from an orthodox 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 depending on the opposition, and could opt for the latter against Coventry and bring Ian Moore back into the starting line-up.

If Burnley have a weakness it is at the back where they are struggling without injured centre-back Ian Cox who is currently side-lined with a hamstring strain. Arthur Gnohere is currently partnering either Steve Davis or Mark McGregor but the defence has shipped 12 goals in the last three league games, including the “freak” 6-5 defeat at Grimsby 10 days ago.

Keeping goal will be former Middlesbrough player Marlon Beresford while the mid-field should comprise the inspirational Little on the right, Paul Weller in the middle and Lee Briscoe on the left. Tony Grant will slot into the middle if Ternent goes with a 4-4-2.

Former Coventry midfielder Paul Cook, who has always done so well against his old club, is set to start on the bench along with super sub striker Dimitrios Papadopoulos. The lightning quick young striker has just made the step up to the senior international Greek squad and has scored five goals after coming off the bench this season.

But Gary McAllister has done his homework and knows all about Burnley’s threat.

“Burnley had a great result against Spurs,” he said. “They have got some good players and I have watched them a couple of times and had them watched quite a lot because we see them as one of those teams who did very well last season and thought would threaten again this year. They started slowly but they are coming into their own now.

“Glen Little and Robbie Blake are two players I like. They combine and have a nice understanding, and the whole team can play so it should be a good football match.

“We have just got to make sure that when we have good spells we capitalise on that, rather than the game hinging on one mistake and them getting a lift from that. It has got to be the other way now and make teams suffer.”

[retired_smitchell78]

Coventry's assistant manager Eric Black says Gary McAllister has lost none of his quality but warned the 37-year-old he must take a rest soon.
The Sky Blues boss was expected to sit out Wednesday night's cup tie at Crystal Palace but instead chose to include himself in the line-up.
Black said McAllister was crucial to the team and pointed to the weekend victory over Rotherham as evidence.
He said: "I think the manager has shown again the quality he has and how big an influence he is on the team.
"When we went a goal down at the weekend obviously we required something to spark everyone, and again he came up with the goods.
"We are going to have to use other options to give the manager a rest but fingers crossed we can use him as much as possible - that's certainly my thinking.
"He has got to be careful how much he plays with two games a week because it is vital that he is fresh and doesn't pick up any injuries.
"But to his credit he has done exceptionally well so far. He has had injuries that have forced him out on one or two occasions but he's the first name on the team sheet that's for sure."

[retired_smitchell78]

Striker Julian Joachim may need an operation on his ankle after his latest comeback bid resulted in a recurrence of an old injury.
Joachim has been sidelined for the majority of his Coventry career after picking up the ankle injury in the opening 15 minutes of his first friendly for the club last year. He managed only a handful of matches last season and then picked up a knock on his heel four games into the current campaign.
Joachim returned to action against Rotherham at the weekend but reported pain in his ankle on Wednesday morning.
Manager Gary McAllister said: "It is very disappointing and he may need an operation.
"He is very frustrated as it is a recurrence of his old ankle injury. He couldn't even travel down to Crystal Palace on Wednesday after reporting the injury that morning.
"Julian has spent four to six weeks building up his fitness. He has been given injections in the past but the physios do not want to go down that route again and the doctors think they may have to go in to see if they can find the cause of his problem."

[retired_smitchell78]

Coventry have confirmed that they have failed in a bid to sign striker Dion Dublin on loan from Midlands rivals Aston Villa.
Player-manager Gary McAllister had been keen to bring Dublin back to Highfield Road, where he spent four years before joining Villa in 1998, particularly with Julian Joachim suffering a recurrence of his heel injury.
But Dublin appears to be back in favour at Villa Park and, with Villa also struggling for goals, manager Graham Taylor has refused to let the 33-year-old leave.
A Sky Blues spokesperson said: "Dion is one of a number of players that we have made enquires about with no success.''

[retired_smitchell78]

Strikers Jay Bothroyd and Julian Joachim are both ruled out of the Sky Blues' trip to Burnley on Saturday after picking up injuries in midweek.
Bothroyd picked up a knock in the Worthington Cup defeat at Crystal Palace, while Joachim is again sidelined with an ankle injury.
That means 20-year-old Gary McSheffrey will be back in the squad after being dropped for last week's clash with Rotherham. The young striker, who has hit seven goals in nine starts this season, is currently out of favour with manager Gary McAllister and is not expected to start at Turf Moor.
McAllister will probably, instead, stick with Craig Hignett and Lee Mills as his two front men. The Coventry-boss must also decide whether to stick with Danish keeper Morten Hyldgaard or bring back Fabien Debec.
Hyldgaard dropped a clanger at Crystal Palace in midweek and that may be enough to see Frenchman Debec re-installed.
McAllister will stick with the same back-four despite leaking three goals in midweek, while Moroccan Youssef Chippo could be given a starting berth at Burnley.

Sky Blues (probable): Debec; Caldwell, Konjic, Davenport, Gordon; Chippo, McAllister, Safri, Partridge; Mills, Hignett.
Subs (from): Hyldgaard, Shaw, McSheffrey, Quinn, Eustace, Kerr, Pipe.

[retired_kpr]

Glenn, you're a legend.

I really, really hope we do not lose this game at Burnley, but I have a bad feeling about it.... they beat Spurs in midweek...

Shame about no chance of Dublin coming back.

[retired_smitchell78]

OTHER RUMOURS

Jari Litmanen joining Cov

Thordur Gudjonsson (Was at Las Palmas also been on loan at Derby and Preston)

3 other mystery Scandinavians on trial next week

[retired_smitchell78]

Dublin Bid Fails - But Macca Eyes Scandinavians

By Neville Hadsley
Date: 8/11/2002

Sky Blues player-boss Gary McAllister has seen a move to bring in former City striker Dion Dublin on loan fail. Macca is desperate for a new striker and to improve the scoring rate and may now turn to some Scandinavian targets

McAllister made it clear in tonight's Coventry Evening Telegraph that he had made several attempts to bring back City's most prolific striker in recent times but had failed.

Now that Dublin was back in the Villa first team, all bets were off.

McAllister's strikers are in a sorry state. Lee Mills has not scored for six games, Jay Bothroyd is injured and will miss the game against Burnley and Julian Joachim has a recurrance of a heel injury which requires surgery and will be missing long term.

That leaves Gary McSheffrey who McAllister made it clear was not ready to lead the City line - despite a record of seven goals in nine starts so far this season.

The boss blamed this on McSheffrey's "lack of all round game".

At the same time, sources close to McSheffrey laughed off rumours that he has already been sold or the even wilder tale currently doing the rounds that he is caught in a drugs scandal. Both are totally inaccurate, says the source.

The only reason McSheffrey is not playing is because the manager is not picking him.

Meanwhile, in what sounds like a bit of a desperate move, McAllister said he had invited "three or four people" over from Scandinavia for a trial. Let's hope they are strikers

[retired_barbara45]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Glenn:
OTHER RUMOURS

Jari Litmanen joining Cov

Thordur Gudjonsson (Was at Las Palmas also been on loan at Derby and Preston)

3 other mystery Scandinavians on trial next week<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Jari Litmanen lol He's not that desparate is he?

P.S. Lets hope one of those scandnaians is Kim Kallstrom! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="big grin[/IMG]