Coventry City v Palace

Ricoh Arena, Saturday 3.00pm

Story so far

Coventry and Palace have had an almost identical start to the season. We've both conceded 17 and scored 17 and both drawn 5 games. The only difference is Coventry have an extra win on us.

Remember last season? We couldn't score, Clinton Morrison wasn't starting and then he hit that amazing scoring run? Look at Coventry - they couldn't score, Morrison was on the bench but then he got himself a goal, then two, then a third.

Palace have looked ordinary-poor at times this season but others we've looked reasonably good but unlucky. Look at Saturday - we created chancs upon chancse in the second half but couldn't put anything away.

Whether John Oster starts in midfield or out wide, whether Victor Moses starts or comes off the bench and wether or not Matt Lawrence is in the team - we need to become more consistant and drop the sloppy starts. Hopefully this starts tomorrow - we can't throw away our hatrick of wins at the Ricoh Arena.

Team news

Striker Alan Lee and James Scowcroft are still absent, but Calvin Andrew is set for a bench appearance after coming on in last weekend's draw with Sheffield Wednesday.

Midfielder Nick Carle may have to settle for another substitute appearance after poor run of form.

Quotes

Chris Coleman

"The problem with getting carried away is that it's difficult if you fall flat on your face the next fixture and we have to unsure that does not happen at the weekend.

"The good thing about this league is that if you slip up there is always a game not too far in the distant future where you can hope to correct it. But we just have to keep chipping away and our first step is to be in the top half by Christmas. That is what I am concentrating on and three points at the weekend will obviously help us reach that.

"Some of the boys have been a bit edgy recently because we haven't been winning games but I like that. It's no point playing happy families if we're not winning because it's a professional sport and we are paid to win

"But we will expect Palace to be tough and aggressive, no different to any other team in the Championship, and just because we turned Birmingham over on Monday does not mean it will be a walk in the park on Saturday by any stretch."

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Coventry City - league stats

Position	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
15th	15	5	5	5	20

Full league table

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Coventry City - current form

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
6	2	3	1	5	5

Full form table

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Our away record v Coventry City

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
46	13	12	21	70	96

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Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
26/12/2007	League	Coventry City	0 - 2	Crystal Palace
18/09/2007	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 1	Coventry City
13/01/2007	League	Coventry City	2 - 4	Crystal Palace
23/09/2006	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 0	Coventry City
22/11/2005	League	Crystal Palace	2 - 0	Coventry City

All time results

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One to watch

Clinton Morrison

We all know what he's about. When he scores one goal, he'll have a purple patch for about 6 weeks.

It's unlikely we'll see anything scored from any further out than 2 yards, but he'll be there to knock the tap-ins in.

One thing he never got much praise for at Palace was his aerial ability and his movement but he has and can score his fair share of headers and peel away from defenders.

I'm not quite sure how Paddy McCarthy, Lawrence or Jose Fonte will get on with him, but I hope they pay attention!

Ref watch

C W Oliver.

Last meeting

Coventry City 0-2 Palace

Wednesday December 26 2007

Coventry City: Marshall, McNamee (Gray, 9), De Zeeuw, Turner, Borrowdale (Thornton, 80), Osbourne, Stephen Hughes (Adebola, 70), Doyle, Tabb, Mifsud, Best

Subs not used: Page, Ward

Bookings: De Zeeuw

Palace: Speroni, Butterfield, Lawrence, Hudson, Hill, Derry, Watson, Soares (Fletcher, 82), Scannell (Ifill, 86), Scowcroft, Morrison (Hills, 69)

Subs not used: Freedman, Fonte

Bookings: Derry, Soares

Goals: Morrison 47, Ifill 88

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