Jim's column 3.9.22

The Preston hoodoo continued on Wednesday night in the opening home game of the season. The curse of Deepdale is well known (no league wins in 20 visits) but the home record against Preston this century is also appalling with no victories in the last nine meetings. The last league victory over the Lancastrians was in September 2007 when late goals by Dele Adebola and Michael Doyle gave Iain Dowie’s Sky Blues a 2-1 victory. Since then there have been nine home meetings (including one at Sixfields and one at St Andrew’s) that have yielded five draws and four defeats. That makes 18 league meetings in total without a win for the Sky Blues with a solitary 3-2 EFL trophy win in 2013.

Preston’s manager Ryan Lowe loves putting one over the Sky Blues. As a player he scored seven goals in seven appearances against City including two for Bury in a League Cup shock in 2011 and a hat trick for Tranmere in a 5-1 hammering at Sixfields in 2013 - the last home hat trick conceded by the Sky Blues. He didn’t fare too well in his final season in 2015-16; he was in the Crewe team defeated 5-0 by City at Gresty Road and just over a month later had moved to Bury and was in the side thumped 6-0 by the Sky Blues.

Last Saturday the Sky Blues were beaten 3-2 at Hull and were on the wrong end of a hat trick by Oscar Estupinan. The Colombian striker became the first opposition player to score a hat trick against the Sky Blues during the five-year Mark Robins era. The last opponent to score three in a game was Northampton’s Keshi Anderson in a 3-0 defeat at Sixfields in March 2017 - a game remembered for an early red card for Jordan Willis and serious disruption to the game by protesting Coventry fans. Oscar is also the first Hull City player to score a hat trick against City.

As I write this the sad news has come through that former City goalkeeper Bob Wesson has passed away. Bob, who was 81, was City’s regular ‘keeper in the early sixties and played in the great FA Cup run in 1963 and won a Third Division championship medal the following season. He made 156 appearances for the club before losing his place to Bill Glazier and moving to Walsall where he played over 200 games for the Saddlers. I intend to do a full tribute to Bob next week.