Coventry City

Coventry take a six-point lead at the top of the table into this meeting and also have the best home record in the division having taken 26 points from their 10 games at The CBS Arena.

Swansea head to the Midlands having lost their past four away matches.

• Coventry are winless in their past nine home league games against Swansea (D5 L4) since a 3-1 victory in the top-flight in October 1981.

• Swansea lost 2-0 against Coventry in their last league meeting in February, ending an 18-game unbeaten run against the Sky Blues (W8 D10).

• Coventry are unbeaten in their past eight home league games played on Boxing Day (W7 D1), since a 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in 2007.

• Swansea have won just one of their past eight away league games played on Boxing Day (D2 L5), losing 5-0 at Southampton in their most recent on the road in 2023.

• Coventry have won their past seven home league matches and have not had a longer home winning run since between October 1959 and February 1960 (9 in a row).

Coventry City defender Joel Latibeaudiere says the "togetherness" of the squad is their driving force as they head into Christmas top of the Championship.

The leaders held on for a vital point with 10 men in a 1-1 draw at Southampton on Saturday after Jay Dasilva was sent off two minutes into the start of the second half.

Frank Lampard's side are now six points clear of second-placed Middlesbrough, and 11 points ahead of third-placed Ipswich Town.

"The biggest takeaway for me was how the team stuck together, how we grinded it out, and that feeling of togetherness to take into the next game. I think that's why we are where we are," Latibeaudiere told BBC CWR.

"A lot of us have been together for three years now. We've been knocking on the door a long time. The gaffer has come in and hit the ground running.

"He's also added a couple of top quality additions who've fitted in straight away. I think we are where are because of the group and how hard we run, how hard we work for each other.

"He reminds of that every day in training, and as long as we keep sticking together like we are, the sky's the limit."

Latibeaudiere was making his first appearance of the season at St Mary's after sustaining bone-bruising while on international duty with Jamaica at the CONCACAF Gold Cup in June.

"I got it at a really bad time, and missed most of pre-season," he added. "It took a while, and I'm back ready now, feeling fresh. The boys have been class, and I'm just glad to be part of it now."

Flu in the Coventry camp at the weekend meant Latibeaudiere played alongside Luke Woolfenden for the first time, with the latter having arrived from Ipswich in the summer.

"We've actually become really close because we've not been playing," he said. "That is really tough for players because that's all we want to do.

"We've had those days where you come and its like, 'I'm doing this again', so getting each other through that and doing extra sessions after training really paid off, and I thought we were really good together.

"Its been tough mentally, but there have been a few players in the same boat and we've just stuck together and got ourselves through those tough moments, and we were always ready.

"When the time came I knew I was ready, I was prepared, and I just loved being out there."

Image source, PA Media

Coventry City manager Frank Lampard says he is "delighted" with his players after they held on for a 1-1 draw with 10 men at Southampton.

He told BBC CWR: "At half-time, I wouldn't have said that [it was a good point] because we were fantastic in the first half.

"Considering the game prep we've had with people falling ill in the last couple of days and some players have played slightly below par as well but you wouldn't have noticed that.

"Then the context of the red card, the decisions in the first half, but our spirit, our effort, our desire to try to hang on to what we had at the end of the game was very special.

"I'm delighted with the performance, I'm delighted with the point considering we had 10 men in the second half."

Coventry go into Saturday's game (12.30 GMT) having beaten Bristol City last weekend after a two-game winless run.

Only the Sky Blues (19) have taken more than Southampton's 18 points over the past eight Championship matches, although the Saints did suffer a 2-1 defeat by Norwich last Saturday.

• Southampton have won three of their past four league games against Coventry (D1), as many as they had in their previous 18 (D9 L6).

• Coventry have lost their past two away league games against Southampton, last losing three in a row between December 1970 and December 1972.

• Coventry have won more points (21) than any other side away from home in the Championship this season, but have failed to win either of their past two away trips in the competition (0-3 v Ipswich and 1-1 v Preston).

• Coventry's Ephron Mason-Clark has created the most chances in open play in the Championship this season (32), while team-mate Matt Grimes has created the most chances from set plays (28).

Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Carl Rushworth has made such an impact at Coventry City this season their fans want to sign the Brighton goalkeeper on a permanent deal.

Whether the Seagulls would sell remains unknown, but it is easy to see why fans of the Sky Blues have fallen into the trap of falling in love with a loan player.

The 24-year-old produced another impressive performance against Bristol City on Saturday, making a string of important saves to earn another clean sheet and three points for Frank Lampard's side.

Rushworth, who was signed to replace injured first-choice keeper Oliver Dovin, has started all 21 Championship league games this season and kept eight clean sheets to date.

Earlier this season he went 613 minutes without conceding a goal for the Sky Blues – the longest run without conceding a goal of any goalkeeper in the club's history.

His run eclipsed the previous record of 608 minutes set by Horace Pearson in 1934.

Prior to this spell in the West Midlands, Rushworth spent half of last season at Hull City before being recalled in January and spent the 2023-24 campaign as first choice goalkeeper at Swansea City.

The Premier League feels like the next step for the former England-Under 21 shot stopper, but how likely is he to feature in Fabian Hurzeler's plans?

Brighton currently have goalkeepers Bart Verbruggen, Jason Steele and Tom McGill, who are all under contract for several more years.

Would one have to leave for him to re-gain a squad place? Or could the club be willing to cash in for the right price?

Regardless, Rushworth appears to be destined for the top flight, whether it be at Brighton or elsewhere.

Coventry City boss Frank Lampard said his players "showed a lot of spirit" to hold on to a 1-0 win against Bristol City.

Coventry goalkeeper Carl Rushworth made a number of key saves to deny the Robins throughout the match and late on as they pushed for an equaliser.

"To lose a game and draw a game probably put a bit more importance on this, a bit more feeling. People would have been looking at us to see how we reacted against a strong team," Lampard told BBC Radio CWR.

"It was great, the players' attitude from minute one was really good, really sharp and continued that.

"We pushed them back and they're one of the highest pressing teams in the league, highest regains, and we played a lot of the game in their half.

"Absolutely not our best performance but sometimes in the endurance test of a season, you look at all the games, your comfortable wins, the games where you have to fight and dig in for the win - games that give you challenges like that [but you] keep a clean sheet, get a goal and we showed a lot of spirit in the team."

Image source, EFL

Coventry City boss Frank Lampard has won his second successive Championship manager of the month award.

The Sky Blues boss oversaw maximum points with five successive wins in November with his side currently five points clear at the top of the table.

Lampard said: "We got some fantastic results throughout November and I would like to thank all the players, staff and everyone involved for their continued hard work.

"We have a great togetherness and team spirit here and we're all looking forward to the busy Christmas period and continuing our hard work."

Birmingham's Chris Davies, Tonda Eckert of Southampton and Derby boss John Eustace were also nominated for the award.

Coventry at the double again

Image source, Getty Images

Once again Coventry have cause for a double celebration with striker Ellis Simms being named the player of the month, following hot on the heels of team-mate Brandon Thomas-Asante claiming the award in October.

The 24-year-old scored five goals in his three starts in November including a brace in each of the victories over Middlesbrough and Charlton, taking his tally to eight in all competitions so far this season.

"This was only possible because of my team-mates and the staff pushing standards every day," said Simms.

"Individual awards come from team performances, and the results we've had make this extra special.

"I'll take the confidence from it and keep giving everything for the club and the fans."

Simms beat strikers Carlton Morris (Derby) and Joe Gelhardt (Hull City) plus Birmingham full-back Alex Cochrane to the award.

Coventry City boss Frank Lampard says his main concern is winning games and how his team perform, rather than individual prizes.

Lampard won the Championship manager of the month award for the second successive time in November.

"I'm pleased to win it twice but I'm not concerned, I'm more concerned about performance and winning games," he said.

"This game means you can't win every game. I said that when we were 10 points clear and I reiterate it now, there's a long way to go."

The Sky Blues are five points clear at the top of the Championship but have not picked up a win in their past two outings, suffering a 3-0 defeat at Ipswich last Saturday, followed by a 1-1 draw at Preston on Tuesday.

"It's important to remember that we are five points clear at the top of this league and a year ago we were 17th.

"I think people should take confidence that the work that we've done has paid off to this point and now we need to continue and find ways to improve."

Lampard was speaking ahead of Bristol City's visit to the CBS Arena on Saturday (15:00 GMT) and said he expects a tough game.

The Sky Blues have not played at home since their 3-1 win over Charlton at the end of November and Lampard is pleased to be back in front of the home crowd.

"It's a tough game no matter what way you look at it. We could be 10 points clear or five points clear or 17th in the league, Bristol City coming here as they are is a tough match for us.

"It's nice to be back at home because we feel good when we play at home where we feel confident. We've been on the road for two difficult games, so it's important to get back to that feeling."

Championship leaders Coventry City will look to return to winning ways when they welcome play-off chasing Bristol City on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The Sky Blues have gone two games without a win in the league for the first time since September, having previously won 11 of 12, but are still unbeaten at home this season (W7 D2).

The Robins rescued a valuable 2-2 draw with Leicester from two goals down last time out but have only won two of their previous eight (D2 L4) to leave them in 10th, though they are just one point off the top six.

• Coventry City have lost none of their past five home league games against Bristol City (W3 D2), last losing to the Robins in October 2014 in League One.

• Bristol City have won one of their past nine league matches against Coventry (D4 L4), a 1-0 home win in October 2023.

• Coventry have won their previous six home league matches – they last had a longer home winning run between May and October 2021 (seven under Mark Robins).

• Bristol City have won four of their nine away league games this season (D3 L2) – already as many as they won in 23 away games in 2024-25 (W4 D10 L9).

• Bristol City's Emil Riis has scored four goals in his past six league appearances against Coventry, all for Preston North End.

Image source, Getty Images

Coventry City boss Frank Lampard, Birmingham's Chris Davies, Tonda Eckert of Southampton and Derby head coach John Eustace have been nominated for the Championship's manager of the month award for November.

The Sky Blues continue to lead the way at the top of the table and took a maximum 15 points from their five games last month, scoring 14 goals along the way, and Lampard will be looking to take the award for the second successive month.

In fact, Coventry will be hoping to make it a double once again with striker Ellis Simms among the nominees for the player of the month with team-mate Brandon Thomas-Asante having won it in October.

Birmingham managed 10 points under Davies while Eckert's four-match winning streak went a long way to helping him secure the Southampton job on a permanent basis.

Derby followed their strong finish to October by winning four of their games in November to earn Eustace his nomination.

Elsewhere in the player of the month category, there is recognition for strikers Carlton Morris (Derby) and Joe Gelhardt (Hull City), while Birmingham full-back Alex Cochrane is also in the running. The winners will be announced on Friday, 12 December.

Image source, shutterstock

Coventry City defender Kaine Kesler-Hayden said their 1-1 draw at 10-man Preston North End was "tough to take" after taking the lead with 20 minutes to go.

The Championship leaders looked on course for a 14th win of the season when Andrew Hughes deflected Jack Rudoni's shot into his own net on 70 minutes.

But North End, reduced to 10 players following defender Liam Lindsay's red card six minutes before half-time, hit back to snatch a point through Daniel Jebbison's strike with 14 minutes left.

"It was a tough one to take. I thought we were in control," Kesler-Hayden told BBC CWR.

"Obviously we get the goal and they score on the counter-attack and it took the wind out of us. It's disappointing, we should've come away with all three points."

The Sky Blues had 52 touches inside the Preston box and produced 21 shots with home goalkeeper Daniel Iversen making six saves.

"We had our chances. I think their keeper did really well to keep them in the game," Kesler-Hayden, who joined Coventry from Preston in the summer, added.

"The way we conceded shouldn't happen and obviously we'll look to analyse it and fix it and go again."

The result saw Coventry's lead at the top of the table trimmed to five points after Middlesbrough's win at Charlton.

The Sky Blues are at home against Bristol City on Saturday, when they will be trying to secure a seventh win in a row at the CBS Arena.

Coventry manager Frank Lampard told BBC Radio CWR: "We're obviously frustrated not to win the game.

"Eleven against eleven we should be ahead, 11 against 10 we were playing in their half, kept on creating, had a goal disallowed, brought an incredible save from their goalkeeper, opportunity after opportunity on a difficult pitch.

"The lads did pretty much everything they could other than get those extra goals that would have given us the comfort.

"The disappointment was the [Preston] goal because we knew only a lapse from us, or a counter-attack or set-piece, was their way of scoring and we allowed that, and that I can critique.

"You have to credit Preston a bit for the way they kept trying to stay in the game, defended very doggedly and then got their goal."

Image source, Getty Images

The FA Cup third round draw was made on Monday evening, with all 24 Championship clubs entering at this stage of the competition.

Ties will take place between Thursday, 8 January and Monday, 12 January.

These are the ties involving Championship clubs:

• Cambridge United v Birmingham City

• Hull City v Blackburn Rovers

• Bristol City v Watford

• Charlton Athletic v Chelsea

• Stoke City v Coventry

• Derby County v Leeds United

• Ipswich Town v Blackpool

• Cheltenham Town v Leicester City

• Fulham v Middlesbrough

• Burnley v Millwall

• Norwich City v Walsall

• MK Dons v Oxford United

• Portsmouth v Arsenal

• Preston North End v Wigan Athletic

• West Ham United v Queens Park Rangers

• Sheffield United v Mansfield Town

• Sheffield Wednesday v Brentford

• Doncaster Rovers v Southampton

• Swansea City v West Bromwich Albion

• Wrexham v Nottingham Forest

You can see the full draw here.

Image source, Opta

Coventry will seek to get back to winning ways as they head to bogey-ground Deepdale to take on Preston on Tuesday (19:45 GMT).

The Sky Blues lost for just the second time in 19 Championship games on Saturday, going down 3-0 at Ipswich, who moved ahead of fifth-placed North End on goal difference after the Lilywhites had to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to Wrexham.

While City have a seven-point lead at the top, despite losing two of their past four away games, North End have suffered only one defeat in their past eight games but could finish the night anywhere from third to eighth depending on the results at Deepdale and elsewhere.

• Preston lost their last league match against Coventry in February, ending a 22-game unbeaten run against them. They've never lost consecutive league games against the Sky Blues before.

• Coventry have never won in 23 away league games against Preston (D8 L15), both the most they've faced a side on the road without ever winning and the most Preston have faced a side at home without defeat.

• Preston have won just one of their past nine midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) Championship games (D6 L2), beating Swansea City 2-1 last month.

• Coventry have won all four of their midweek (Tues, Weds, Thurs) Championship games this season, scoring 13 goals and conceding just four.

• Paul Heckingbottom has won all three of his home league games against Coventry, with each victory coming in charge of a different club (Barnsley in March 2016, Sheffield United in December 2022 and Preston last season).

Marc Webber
BBC Final Score reporter

Image source, Shutterstock

There was a footnote of controversy to Coventry City's second league defeat this season, and it surrounded whether Ipswich goalscorer George Hirst should have even been on the pitch when he scored their second in Saturday's 3-0 win.

Hirst was on a yellow card already when he was adjudged to be offside en route to goal, 35 minutes in.

He still attempted the shot a couple of seconds later, despite the referee's whistle, yet no second yellow was given for kicking the ball away.

That mattered to Coventry because, a quarter of an hour before that, Josh Eccles had been cautioned for kicking the ball away.

Coventry players rounded on referee Paul Tierney following Hirst's incident, demanding to know why Eccles was carded and the Ipswich striker wasn't?

It was a valid question that remains unanswered.

Manager Frank Lampard was keen to stress afterwards this was not the major reason why Coventry suffered the shock defeat. He also said he was not a fan of the punishment, anyway.

But he did feel the rule wasn't equally applied and that allowed a player to score who should not have been on the pitch, which could have changed the early dynamic of the game in Coventry's favour.

Coventry City boss Frank Lampard feels his team did better than the scoreline suggested as they were beaten 3-0 at Ipswich.

It was just the Championship leaders' second league defeat of the season.

"We were winning everything in the first half, the second balls were dropping to us, we were the team who had the real personality," he told BBC Radio CWR.

"Great organisation, work ethic off the ball, everything was great and we restricted them.

"And they get a goal from a bit of a mess at a corner. Then you've got a difficult job, but I still thought the players kept going.

"3-0, I don't like it, of course. I'm a bad loser, I hate defeats and I'll analyse them and maybe react to the players.

"Circumstances happen, I don't like losing and the reaction is the only important thing.

"But in terms of the game I thought anyone who was here and saw that first half will realise this isn't Coventry from the first half of last season, this is a team that wants to try and go and do something. Today we didn't but it can happen."

Coventry City will need to find a solution to cover for the absence of their top scorer Brandon Thomas-Asante, says boss Frank Lampard.

The 10-goal forward will miss the next six weeks with a hamstring injury sustained in a 4-2 win at Middlesbrough last month.

"(It's) really disappointing for us both. I know how hungry he is, how well he's been doing," Lampard told BBC CWR.

"He's been playing various positions for us, and wherever he plays he gives everything."

Along with Derby's injured striker Carlton Morris, Thomas-Asante is the Championship's leading marksman, contributing a fifth of the Sky Blues' 50 goals so far this season.

"He's a big loss for us. We don't have big numbers at the front end of the pitch," said Lampard.

"He was so helpful to us to play on the left, at 10, on the right, as a nine if needed, so we have to find solutions in the short term to get by without that and I'm disappointed for him personally, because he was flying."

It also means the 26-year-old will miss out on potential selection for Ghana's Africa Cup of Nations squad, having made his first senior international start for the Black Stars in November.