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Coleman glad to be on road after home discomfort



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Published Date: 21 November 2008
THEY are a club with ambitions, a high-profile young manager and a good stadium though it is only half full.
They also narrowly avoided relegation last season but have made progress and are now just below the Championship's halfway point.

They have won only one of their last few matches and have recently been beaten 1-0 at home by Plymouth in a game they dominated.

But the aim is to make strides towards the top half of the table - starting at Hillsborough tomorrow.

Sheffield Wednesday? No, their opponents, Coventry City.

Like the Owls, the Sky Blues have also in recent years had three-year plans to get back into the Premiership, plans that did not work out.

Manager Chris Coleman, who has been trying to reduce his fans' expectations, knows that a win tomorrow for his team would take them above 14th-placed Wednesday and is looking for a tonic after a haul of only five points from the last seven games.

Wednesday's tally from the same period is seven points.

There is one big contrast between the clubs: while the Owls have been strong at home and weak away, Coventry have not won at home since early October and, according to Coleman, have looked more solid in away games.

"We have had our problems at the Ricoh Arena," says the Sky Blues boss. "Maybe Saturday's game will give us a bit of breathing space because we are not in front of our home fans. If we can get something out of the game then we can start again and put a little run together."

Coventry are 18th, two points below the Owls.

Coleman wants to be in mid-table by Christmas and then bring in new players in the January transfer window to give the club another boost.

Inevitably, there has been speculation again about Richard Wood, who was the subject of an unsuccessful Coventry bid in August.

But Brian Laws has reiterated his desire to keep his best players. "You have to have to have your building blocks. The good players are the building blocks and the ones you have to keep hold of," he said.

Coleman looks back on some disappointing performances in recent weeks. "We promise so much and then we always fall down, and we have to break away from that mentality," he says.

"That's why this season we have got to think of mid-table because it is a step forward from fourth from bottom (the club's final position last season).

"We are still aiming for that for Christmas and we are only two points off.

"Maybe our bad run has been a blessing because maybe if we were in the top six or eight at Christmas and then we finished below at the end of the season, it looks as if you have failed."

Coventry fell away last season and ended up in the scramble for safety, after an injury-time goal by Wood gave Wednesday a 1-1 draw at Hillsborough on April 1.

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The full article contains 585 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
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  • Last Updated: 21 November 2008 2:42 PM
  • Source: Sheffield Star
  • Location: Sheffield
 
 

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