Coventry City could move to within just one point of Sunderland in the Championship table when they welcome the Black Cats to the Coventry Building Society Arena on Saturday lunchtime.
The two sides suffered contrasting results against Rotherham United in their most recent battles, with the hosts seeing off the Millers 2-0 last weekend, while Tony Mowbray's side lost 2-1 on Tuesday.
Match preview
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Presented with the chance to win three successive Championship fixtures for the first time since the turn of the year, Coventry have consigned a difficult winter period to history and made it back-to-back wins for the first time since November against Rotherham last weekend.
Jamie Allen made the net ripple within the first minute of the second half before Viktor Gyokeres rounded off the scoring with his 14th goal of the season in added time - keeping him second in the top scorer charts behind Middlesbrough's Chuba Akpom (19).
Following on from a narrow 1-0 success over Millwall, consecutive wins with two clean sheets in tow have allowed Coventry to take up 11th spot in the Championship table, and only five points separates Mark Robin's side from Luton Town in the final playoff position.
Only Norwich City have managed to prevail against this weekend's hosts in their last 11 Championship games at the Coventry Building Society Arena, and a Sky Blues side who have only failed to score once in their last 14 home contests should enter Saturday's game without a shred of trepidation.
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Unable to replicate their upcoming opponents' feat against Rotherham, Sunderland's five-game unbeaten run in the Championship came to a disappointing end against the Millers in midweek courtesy of Oliver Rathbone and Shane Ferguson's strikes.
Joe Gelhardt responded for Sunderland just after the hour mark, but Mowbray's men were quelled in the final 30 minutes, marking their first defeat on the road in the second tier since Blackburn Rovers got one over their former manager in October.
Mowbray has implored the Black Cats to use Tuesday's loss as a learning curve, as Sunderland enter the weekend's fixtures sat eighth in the rankings - ahead of Norwich City on goal difference - but Luton, Watford and Millwall are all just one point better off.
Two wins from seven in all competitions is not a splendid record at first glance, but Gelhardt's strike against Rotherham saw Sunderland score away from home for the ninth game running in the Championship, although they have just two clean sheets to boast from their last 12 on the road too.
Coventry came away from the Stadium of Light with a 1-1 draw against Sunderland back in July, which made it five games unbeaten for the Sky Blues against the Black Cats, who have not beaten their upcoming hosts since Dwight Yorke was among the goals in February 2007.
Team News
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Coventry duo Fabio Tavares and Callum O'Hare are both on the mend from Achilles and ACL ruptures respectively and will miss the remainder of the season, while midfielder Ben Sheaf is nursing a calf tear and will be out for a few more weeks.
Robins is hopeful that Fankaty Dabo can shake off his hamstring strain soon, although Jonathan Panzo is more of a doubt with his knee problem, which he sustained by clattering into a goalpost during a training session.
Gyokeres's late goal against Rotherham made it five contributions (two goals, three assists) in his last six Championship games for the Sweden striker, who should be joined up top by Kasey Palmer once more.
Meanwhile, Sunderland have a duo of their own out for the long-term in Ross Stewart (Achilles) and Corry Evans (ACL), although the latter was recently rewarded with a new contract.
Lynden Gooch and Elliot Embleton are also taking up spots in the visitors' infirmary, and one potential change from midweek could see Patrick Roberts push to return over Paris Saint-Germain loanee Edouard Michut or Alex Pritchard.
Coventry City possible starting lineup:
Wilson; McFazdean, McNally, Doyle; Norton-Cuffy, Hamer, Eccles, Bidwell; Allen; Gyokeres, Palmer
Sunderland possible starting lineup:
Patterson; O'Nien, Batth, Ballard, Cirkin; Neil, Michut; Diallo, Clarke, Roberts; Gelhardt
We say: Coventry City 1-1 Sunderland
Very few sides have managed to prevail against Coventry on their own turf in recent weeks, but similarly, Sunderland developed a penchant for away-day performances before being seen off by Rotherham.
A close contest should be on the cards between two sides who could still upset the playoff apple cart, and we expect the two top-six hopefuls to cancel each other out and take home a point apiece.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
