Tony Mowbray believes the sale of Viktor Gyokeres has only made Coventry strong, with the Blues re-investing in the likes of Ellis Simms and Haji Wright up front making them a formidable threat. Of course, Mowbray spent 18 months at Coventry during the mid-2010s and helped them avoid relegation to the fourth tier.
SIMMS + WRIGHT
"Coventry have lost Gyokeres, who damaged us last year. I don't know the numbers - we never will know the numbers, probably - but if you read some reports they will pay a final fee of £8m for Ellis [Simms] potentially. I don't know what the downpayment was or how it was [structured], but then they brought in someone who cost more than that, their record signing Haji Wright. They've reinvested the money in the team, they've got good players. They are very solid, defensively really well-structured, and it'll be a tough day for us."
TIGHT FIXTURE
"We have to mindful of the team we are playing but they will also be mindful of the talents we've got. On any given day it's a tight, tight, game. My hope this year is that we win the tight game as opposed to the one last year where we had a lot of possession away from home [and lost]. They're a good team. We've been watching them."
RESULTS SO FAR
"They beat Middlesbrough 3-0 at home, and they've had a couple of away games either side of that at Swansea and at Leicester. They play a back three, they have wingbacks that are quite aggressive and support the attack, they play with two centre-forwards and a number ten, two sitting midfield players. We know all about them, we know where the spaces on the pitch are that we'll try to exploit, and they'll know all about us too. Last year we went there to attack and had about 80 percent possession and lost 2-1."
FAMILIAR FACES
"We have to stop their transition because they turn the ball over and attack very quickly with their number ten, Kasey Palmer, who I had on loan at Blackburn and know very well - he's a hugely powerful and technical boy who started his time at Chelsea. Matty Godden has scored a couple of goals already, he's a natural goalscorer and poacher of goals, and then they have spent some money on Ellis and Wright. They are a real threat and we have to be mindful of that."
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