Source: FOOTYMAD
Coventry City vs Portsmouth Preview
Let the pain and suffering begin? After a disasterous 2009/2010 season which saw relegation, administration and the club coming close to folding on more than one occasion, Portsmouth begin life in the Championship after a seven year exile, starting with a trip to Coventry.Team NewsLee Carsley and Gary McSheffrey should make their first starts for Coventry after long spells away from the club, but Aaron Gunnarsson is likely to miss out after injuring his back taking a long throw in a friendly last week.It is almost impossible to predict Pompey's team. It seems that left back Stephen Jordan won't play for us as Sheffield United look set to steal him, meaning Hayden Mullins could play there as he has recovered from injury.Kevin-Prince Boateng and John Utaka could feature as they are yet to be sold, whilst Aaron Mokoena should play in the centre of defence alongside Ibrahima Sonko.Kanu may also feature is his contract has been resolved but Jamie Ashdown will play after his signing was ratified by the Football League.The MatchMuch has changed since we were last in the second tier of English football. Gone are the likes of Grimsby and Rotherham and the league has undergone a couple of rebranding schemes, but Coventry City are still here, albeit with a new home.Aidy Boothroyd has taken over from Chris Coleman and I think we can expect the home side to employ some direct tactics as they try and put this patched-up Pompey team under pressure early on.It's very hard to predict how Steve Cotterill will organise his side, but I expect him to try a 4-5-1 formation to keep things tight and make us difficult to break down.It will be interesting to see if the likes of Boateng and Utaka make an appearance, seeing as they are still contracted to the club. Boateng's quality could be the difference between a draw and a win for us, but given how turbulent things have been recently, there is every chance that we could lose our first game back in the second tier.Losing wouldn't be a disaster though, it's a long old season and the new boss is going to need time to rebuild the squad.Predicted Starting Line-UpsCoventryGK: Keiren WESTWOODRB: Richard KEOGHCB: James McPAKECB: Richard WOODLB: Chris HUSSEYRM: Gary McSHEFFREYCM: Lee CARSLEYCM: Sammy CLINGANLM: Michael McINDOECF: Freddy EASTWOODCF: Clive PLATTPompeyGK: Jamie ASHDOWNRB: Marc WILSONCB: Aaron MOKOENACB: Ibrahima SONKOLB: Hayden MULLINSRM: Tommy SMITH CM: Michael BROWNCM: Kevin-Prince BOATENGCM: Richard HUGHESLM: Matt RITCHIECF: David NUGENTLast Time: Coventry City 1 Portsmouth 2 (FA Cup Third Round Replay - 12/01/2010)To think that Pompey were one minute away from being dumped out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle before going all the way to the final. Leon Best's unstoppable first half strike look to have sealed the win for Coventry before an inexplicable own goal from Stephen Wright levelled things in the 90th minute.It looked like Pompey would be taken to penalties where they would surely be beaten but up popped Aaron Mokoena with a header from a corner in the 120th minute to win the game for Pompey.My PredictionThis game is so hard to predict as I've got no idea how we will line up. If Boateng, Utaka and/or Kanu feature then I think they have the quality to open up the Coventry defence. I worry about our full backs playing out of position and think we'll concede, but so long as we can put a strong team out I think we can get a result.Coventry City 1 Portsmouth 1
