Can diamond-less City surprise West Ham?

Andy Thorn will depart from his usual diamond formation for the first time on Saturday when Championship title favourites West Ham United come to the Ricoh Arena looking to build on their solid start to the season.

The opening 45 minutes of City's previous game against Southampton look to have made up Thorn's mind that the diamond is making his side too easy for opponents to find their way through without the negatives being outweighed by chances and goals at the other end.

Thorn's 10 games in charge at the end of last season were marked by some excellent attacking play from the Sky Blues, who matched their opponents blow for blow, scoring 16 goals and conceding 12 during that period.

'genuine'

Crucially however one of the two strikers in the preferred line-up was Marlon King, who not only posed a genuine threat to defenders but was a talented enough player to act as the tip of the diamond at the same time.

Much of City's threat in those games came when King, having received the ball from Sammy Clingan, played in a midfielder running through such as Baker, McSheffrey or Gunnarsson.

Having lost King, City have struggled for much of this season to pose a similar threat. While Jutkiewicz remains a willing runner and worker up front, when the midfield battle is being lost as against Southampton it reduces a player such as Cody McDonald (an out-and-out striker) to being a passenger.

The second-half against the Saints saw a more solid home side able to use Clive Platt as the linkman and while the veteran forward is not in King's class, his time on the pitch this season has coincided with some of the Sky Blues' better performances.

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.