Coventry City host West Brom today with both sides aiming to get their respective promotion challenges back on track and secure a vital three points against a top-six rival.

The Sky Blues have endured a recent dip in form that has seen them manage to claim just one win from their previous five Championship matches.

That run of form has seen them drop down to sixth place in the table and they are now only two points clear of Stoke City, who are just outside of the play-off places heading into this weekend’s fixtures.

Mark Robins’ side have enjoyed an excellent campaign so far, though, despite their recent dip in form and they have shown previously that they can be a major threat against anyone in the Championship when they are at their best.

This will be a game that Coventry will be targeting as a big chance to get their promotion push back up and running and three points here could go a long way to determining where they finish come the end of the campaign. After drawing their last three league games, the focus will very much be on picking up all three points here.

West Brom, meanwhile, have also seen their form take a downturn over the last few weeks and the Baggies have managed to win just one of their last five league matches as well.

That has seen them drop down to fourth in the league table and they have lost crucial ground on both AFC Bournemouth and Fulham in the race for automatic promotion.

Valerien Ismael’s side will have to get back to winning games consistently very soon if they are to avoid getting too far away from the top two places to mount an automatic promotion push. This is a game that they also really need to win to avoid another top-six rival closing the gap even further on them.

With all that in mind, we take a look at all you need to know heading into the fixture…

Team news

Coventry are reportedly set to assess the fitness of their squad ahead of the visit of West Brom after they have been hit with a cold virus on their training ground.

That means that Robins could be set to face a difficult task when naming his starting line-up to take on West Brom if there are to be a number of absentees.

Michael Rose was sent home from the squad ahead of Coventry’s 2-2 draw with Bournemouth last time out through illness so he will be a doubt for the game.

Jake Clarke-Salter has been sent back to parent club Chelsea recently after picking up an Achilles injury that has seen him absent from the Sky Blues’ last three fixtures.

Robins’ side are hopeful that key midfield man Gustavo Hamer will be back fit and available for the Sky Blues after he missed out on the draw at Bournemouth due to a foot injury.

Martyn Waghorn is also thought to be closer to making a return to action for the Sky Blues after he has missed the last few weeks with a shoulder injury. However, this game against West Brom might come just slightly too soon for him.

 

 

West Brom, meanwhile, obviously remain without the long-term absentees of Dara O’Shea and Kean Bryan and that has been impacting the choices that Ismael has been having to make when naming his back three.

The Baggies will also once again face a tough selection problem in the middle of the park with Jake Livermore and Jayson Molumby suspended for this clash with Coventry. That leaves West Brom very light on options in the midfield heading into a crucial clash.

It is believed that Kenneth Zohore is also out of action at the moment with a muscle injury, while Matty Phillips is set to miss out with a hamstring problem and Robert Snodgrass is also a doubt with a back injury at the moment.

Is there a live stream?

This game will be available to watch on Sky Sports via the Sky Sports football channel due to it being the early kick-off in the Championship this weekend. That comes with 3pm games now no longer able to be streamed live for UK tv audiences via iFollow accounts.

There will also be audio commentary available via both club’s respective local radio outlets and their iFollow accounts as well.

What time is kick-off?

This game kicks off as the first Championship fixture of the day at 12:30pm and is one of ten fixtures to take place today in the English second tier. All the other nine games start at 3pm.