Palace preview

Coventry City aim to improve on their patchy away form in South London on Saturday against a Crystal Palace side on the same number of points as them in the table.

Peter Taylor, who brings his England under-21 side to the Ricoh Arena next month, enjoyed a flying start to life as the Eagles boss before a bad run of results was ended by a 1-0 win at Norwich last Saturday.

Sky Blues midfielder Michael Doyle told the club's website: 'It is an important match for us.

'Our away form hasn't been the best and we need to go there and take something from the game.

'It's a tough place to go and we always have good battles down there so we have to get our heads down and get back in the right frame of mind.'

Palace defender Matt Lawrence: 'We need to win these home games - and we need to start on Saturday.

'I know (Coventry manager) Micky Adams from my time at Fulham, and he and his staff will have the team really well-marshalled.

'It will be a hard game, but it is one we believe we can win.'

Midfielders Carl Fletcher and Ben Watson could feature after an ankle injury and a hernia operation respectively. Tom Soares is still on the sidelines.

Palace are looking to sign Lee Hendrie on loan from Aston Villa but no deal has been done as yet.

The £2.5m deadline day signing scored his first Palace goal last week and could start this one.

'Shefki was disappointed that he wasn't playing as all strikers want to play,' said boss Peter Taylor after the Norwich game.

'But he showed a great attitude after he'd been told he was only going to be a sub.'

Coventry City boss Micky Adams has plenty of options at his disposal following Jay Tabb and David McNamee`s successful comeback from injury last week and an impressive team performance against Leeds.

Didn`t look too happy at being substituted last week but the Trinidadian star seems to be at his best when he has something to prove.

Last season`s upturn in form came ahead of the World Cup while he is now looking to see off the threat of new signing Leon McKenzie and earn a new City contract.

The corresponding fixture last season ended in a 2-0 win for Crystal Palace, their third success over the Sky Blues in little over two months following a League Cup triumph at Selhurst Park and a 4-1 romp at the Ricoh Arena.

The Eagles travel to Hull City next Saturday, while the Sky Blues entertain Plymouth Argyle.

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