One of three all-Championship FA Cup fourth-round replays scheduled for midweek, Coventry City and Sheffield Wednesday renew hostilities at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Tuesday night.
The Owls left it late to hold their upcoming hosts to a 1-1 draw at Hillsborough last time out, and whoever prevails in the rematch will have the honour of hosting sixth-tier Maidstone United in round five.
Match preview
© Reuters
Announcing himself to the Coventry faithful in the best way possible, January signing Victor Torp marked his debut for Mark Robins's side in exceptional fashion, breaking the deadlock against Sheffield Wednesday with a thunderous long-range strike into the roof of the net.
The 24-year-old's Coventry baptism would not have a happy ending, though, as with just six minutes of normal time remaining, Djeidi Gassama found a gap at Ben Wilson's near post and managed to squeeze home the equaliser, thus leaving Robins's men to rue their failure to see the game out.
That stalemate at Hillsborough marked the start of a three-match winless streak for the Sky Blues, who ended January with a 2-2 Championship draw at home to Bristol City before their 12-game unbeaten run came to an end at Norwich City's Carrow Road headquarters on Saturday.
Once again, Robins's team drew first blood only to be left frustrated, as Joshua Sargent and Borja Sainz rendered Callum O'Hare's opening effort inconsequential, thereby bumping Coventry out of the playoff positions into seventh place thanks to Hull City's beating of Millwall.
Having alternated between fourth-round and third-round exits since the 2019-20 FA Cup, Coventry would be following a familiar pattern if they were to fall short on Tuesday, but they welcome Sheffield Wednesday to their West Midlands base having lost just once in front of their own fans all season.
© Reuters
Since experiencing a Halloween fright in a 2-0 loss to West Bromwich Albion at the end of October, Coventry have avoided defeat in each of their last nine fixtures on familiar territory, netting at least two goals in each of their last five Coventry Building Society Arena contests.
Such statistics will make for grim reading for Sheffield Wednesday, who took to the road on Saturday only to get dismantled 4-0 by relegation rivals Huddersfield Town, who endured 68 minutes of frustration before a late Owls capitulation saw Matty Pearson, Josh Koroma (two) and Sorba Thomas strike in front of a dumbfounded Danny Rohl.
Four weeks on from an identical victory over Cardiff City in the third round of the FA Cup, none of Sheffield Wednesday's last five matches in any competition has seen the Owls prevail, and Rohl's men remain on a one-way path back down to League One barring a miraculous spring renaissance.
History is not on Sheffield Wednesday's side either, as they drew 1-1 with Fleetwood Town in their original FA Cup fourth-round tie last year before losing the replay 1-0, and they have already been eliminated from the competition by Coventry on four occasions.
A 2-0 beating at the Coventry Building Society Arena earlier this season also marked a 14th game without success for Sheffield Wednesday on the Sky Blues' soil, where they have not come up trumps since their glory days in the Premier League in 1995.
Team News
© Reuters
Coventry's efforts to take something away from Carrow Road were not aided by a second-half sending-off for Liam Kitching, who had been cautioned earlier in the match before being given a straight red card for a last-man foul on Sargent.
With red cards counting across all competitions, the defender will sit out Tuesday's replay through suspension, so Joel Latibeaudiere should be immediately recalled to Robins's backline.
Former Arsenal prospect Ben Sheaf is also out of contention, having been ruled out for six to eight weeks with the hamstring injury he picked up at Bristol City, but the hosts otherwise have a clean bill of health.
As for Sheffield Wednesday, Callum Paterson has not been seen in an Owls jersey since suffering a concussion in the Championship trip to Coventry on Boxing Day, and there is still no indication when the striker might be back in contention.
Dominic Iorfa (leg) is also missing for the visitors, who cannot call upon two deadline-day loan arrivals - Leeds United's Ian Poveda and Swansea City's Kristian Pedersen - either, and left-back Marvin Johnson has also emerged as a fresh injury doubt.
Brighton & Hove Albion-owned goalkeeper James Beadle has also fallen victim to the cup-tied rule, so 18-year-old Pierce Charles will act as the Owls' guardian at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Coventry City possible starting lineup:
Wilson; Van Ewijk, Thomas, Latibeaudiere, Bidwell; Palmer, Torp, Eccles, Dasilva; O'Hare; Wright
Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Charles; Valentin, Bernard, Famewo, Johnson; Gassama, Bannan, Diaby, Musaba; Ugbo, Cadamarteri
We say: Coventry City 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday
There was certainly an air of fortune about Gassama's equaliser for Sheffield Wednesday in the initial encounter, and from the visitors' last 13 away games in all competitions, they have only managed a paltry four goals.
Coventry should therefore experience few problems shutting their lowly foes out on Tuesday, and with the Sky Blues also possessing a killer touch on home turf, a date with giant killers Maidstone will surely be theirs.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
