City feel the blues ahead of Blues clash

Only two games into the season and there is already a touch of crisis talk in the air surrounding the Ricoh Arena and Coventry City as they prepare to face Birmingham City on Saturday.

The paucity of Andy Thorn's squad after a summer of transfer activity that has mostly involved players leaving the club has been laid bare in the matches against Leicester City and Bury.

In both games the Sky Blues have had the opposition on the back foot at key moments (when the Foxes were down to ten men and at a goal in front against the Shakers) but have been unable to go on from there. When the matches then turned away from City Thorn has had no options available to him to turn things around.

'determination'

'We'll stick at it and carry on working as hard as we can,' was the word from the manager after the League Cup defeat at Gigg Lane and no-one doubts either his or his players' determination to do just that but those travelling the short distance to Birmingham will again do so more in hope than in expectation.

The home side started life back in the Championship with defeat at Derby but, having fielded a host of new signings, were not too downhearted.

'If we play like that week in and week out I know we will get results,' winger Chris Burke told his club's official website.

Boss Chris Hughton meanwhile spoke to the Birmingham Mail and said: 'Usually it does take a while to gel, although there were times at Derby when you wouldn't have thought that, in terms of our possession play, which I thought was very good in the first half.'

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