Coventry set off on a free scoring title charge that included a 7-1 win against QPR in the first meeting, but it’s become more nervous lately without a win in six away games and Boro just three points back – Dominic Jerrams (@SideSammy) takes us through it.

Stupid question, but how's the season been for Coventry?

There’s no other word for it than incredible. After the pain of missing out in the play-offs last season – having outplayed Sunderland for much of the two legs in the semi-final – and not really making any major additions, there wasn’t a huge sense of build-up to this campaign. It turns out having a really settled side and a manager who has got to grips with his squad was an excellent formula to have with a number of players taking turns over the first half of the campaign to step up and deliver us to top.

It’s become more nervy since but it feels important to recall that no-one expected us to be in this position at the start of the campaign.

Cov so far…
Coventry 0-0 Hull
Derby 3-5 Coventry Elder 12, Morris pen 45, Adams 50 – Thomas 7, Wright pen 25, Thomas-Asante 72, Mason-Clark 75, Torp 79
Coventry 7-1 QPR: Wright 12, 37, Thomas- Asante 23, Rudoni 35, 43, Torp 47, 66 - Kone 90
Oxford 2-2 Coventry Lankshear 19, Brannagan 75 – Wright 12, Torp 37
Coventry 1-1 Norwich Wright 90 – Kvistgaarden 17
Leicester 0-0 Coventry
Coventry 3-0 Birmingham Thomas-Asante 16, Osayi-Samuel og 49, Torp 78
Millwall 0-4 Coventry Wright 29, 66, Simms 81, Kesler-Hayden 87
Sheff Wed 0-5 Coventry Thomas-Asante 3, 33, Wright 45, Simms 68, Sakamoto 75
Coventry 2-0 Blackburn Torp 57, Thomas-Asante 59
Portsmouth 1-2 Coventry Kirk 90 – Thomas-Asante 30, 56
Coventry 3-1 Watford Thomas-Asante 3, Allen 7, Sakamoto 42 – Louza pen 69
Wrexham 3-2 Coventry Moore 60, 69, 83 – Mason-Clark 22, Sakamoto 88
Coventry 3-1 Sheff Utd Sakamoto 49, Thomas 60, Thomas-Asante 90 – McCallum 25
Stoke 0-1 Coventry Mason-Clark 86
Coventry 3-2 West Brom Eccles 41, Simms 56, Torp 61 – Heggebo 9, 32
Boro 2-4 Coventry Whittaker 32, Thomas og 49 – Simms 10, 86, Kitching 14, 85
Coventry 3-1 Charlton Eccles 40, Simms 44, 76 – Knibbs 13
Ipswich 3-0 Coventry Egeli 43, Hirst 60, Azon 90
Preston 1-1 Coventry Jebbison 76 – Hughes og 70
Coventry 1-0 Bristol City Mason-Clark 64
Southampton 1-1 Coventry Wood 56 – Mason-Clark 44
Coventry 1-0 Swansea Mason-Clark 44
Coventry 0-2 Ipswich Clarke 72, Burns 83
Charlton 1-1 Coventry Rankin-Costello 69 – Simms 3
Birmingham 3-2 Coventry Ducksch 6, 63, Koumas 17 – Eccles 8, Simms 60
Coventry 2-1 Leicester Simms 47, Wright 85 – James 10
Coventry 2-1 Millwall Esse 11, Wright 78 – Ivanovic 29
Norwich 2-1 Coventry Slimane 46, Ahmed 67 – Esse 38

Things don't seem to be flowing the way they were to start with - two wins from seven, four from 12 - is this a wobble?

That the frantic festive fixture list coincided with a horrendous flu outbreak did us no favours and has allowed the teams below us to close the ground massively – most notably, Ipswich, who beat us twice over that period. A break in the fixture congestion more recently has seen players return and a couple added to the squad which had seen us ease back into form, but Monday night’s defeat to Norwich City felt a continuation of the concerns that had been raised over December.

What's changed, particularly away from home where it's now no wins in six?

While there remain sources of goals all over the pitch, the big issue is how exposed the defence has looked of late. Every time we give the ball away, we look like giving the opposition a chance on goal. Whether that’s down to a drop in the intensity of our pressing, Matt Grimes looking extremely leggy as the team’s only remotely defensive-minded midfielder, or a back four that hasn’t been allowed a run of games together since November, everyone involved at Coventry City will be desperate to find an answer.

That weakness after losing the ball seems a bigger issue away from home as opponents are more likely to commit bodies forward to take advantage of the gaps we’re leaving in front, around and behind our defence. One would suggest that maybe we didn’t need to play so gung-ho away from home with such a big gap from the teams below us, but there seems an unwillingness or inability to play any other way.

Some notable January additions, what's been done, what's left undone, any rumours of more to come?

Adding the two wingers on loan – Romain Esse from Crystal Palace and Yang Min-Hyeok from Spurs – was probably the kind of move we should have made during the summer, instead of leaving ourselves with five forwards to cover four attacking positions that saw us come unstuck over the Christmas period. Esse has looked exciting in an impudent way with his desire to play these little flicks constantly and ephemeral nature off-the-ball – great when it comes off but maybe not what you need in tricky, pressure away games. Yang has barely featured yet, so the jury remains out on his potential impact.

The key area that needs to be addressed is the back end of the pitch, where there’s a real lack of athleticism and nous to cut off the slew of counter-attacks this team is giving away. A physical central midfielder would be nice and maybe a defender of some description who can provide a calm head on top of that, if I’m being greedy.

Summer Ins >>> Luke Woolfenden, 26, CB, Ipswich, £4m >>> Kaine Kesley-Hayden, 22, RB, Villa, £3.5m >>> Miguel Angel Brau, 23, LB, Granada, Free >>> Carl Rushworth, 24, GK, Brighton, Loan

Winter Outs >>> Norman Bassette, 21, CF, Kaiserslautern,Loan

Where is the team strong, where is it weak?

The diversity of goalscorers is this team’s biggest strength. When everyone is fit, opponents face the problem of if they can stop Haji Wright, that leaves space for Brandon Thomas-Asante, and if they can stop the two of them, that leaves space for Ephron Mason-Clark, and if they can stop those three then Ellis Simms, Romain Esse, Jack Rudoni and Victor Torp are all match-winners too. Brandon Thomas-Asante is only just back from injury – and faces a possible suspension for committing the crime of fouling someone with the Sky cameras on – with Jack Rudoni possibly out too, which limits our ability to change things up from the Norwich defeat plus have something left on the bench.

We are probably one of about ten Championship teams who will tell you that our goalkeeper is the best in the division but Carl Rushworth really is brilliant. The type of keeper who will pull off saves that really shouldn’t be possible, that we’ve conceded so many recently with him between the sticks shows how porous in defence we really have been.

Do you think you'll see this through?

I am hopeful that we will be able to get over the line in terms of promotion, thanks to the position that we’ve built for ourselves earlier in the campaign. We have probably been a little unlucky lately to have picked up some of the poor results we have done and if we can stay calm, rely on our home form and develop a knack for picking up points on the road, that should be able to get us promotion. It would be nice if the teams below us could return to their old inconsistent selves again

Links >>> Coventry City — Official Website >>> Coventry Telegraph — Local Press >>> Sky Blues Talk — Forum >>> Sky Blues Blog — Blog >>> Sideways Sammy — Blog >>> The Lonely Season — Blog >>> Sky Blues TV - Classic Match Highlights >>> Access All Areas — Podcast

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Pictures - Reuters Connect