Preston hoodoo continues against 10 men

Just when Coventry City fans thought that the Preston hoodoo was about to be ended, with the opposition down to ten men and a 1-0 lead, a brief loss of concentration gave the home side an equaliser. Many fans would have taken a point at kick-off against one of the best home sides in the division but at the end of the game there was a sense of disappointment and a feeling that two points had been dropped. It's now 24 league games at Deepdale without a victory with nine draws and 15 defeats. One wonders if the Sky Blues will ever get their first win at North End.

Liam Lindsay, red-carded for fouling Haji Wright late in the first half, set an unwanted record by becoming only the second opposition player to receive two red cards against the Sky Blues. Previously, Lindsay got his marching orders in the 84^th minute of the City v Preston match at the CBS in 2022 for a second yellow for a foul on Viktor Gyokeres with the score 0-0. There was drama however in the last few minutes of the game with Fankaty Dabo conceding an 89^th minute penalty and also receiving a red card. Daniel Johnson converted the penalty kick seemingly to win the points for Preston but Fabio Tavares had other ideas. Brought on as eight minutes added time commenced, the young striker hit a spectacular goal in the 98^th minute to earn a deserved point for the Sky Blues.

The other double red card man was Chris Whyte who was sent off playing against City for both Arsenal and Leeds United. In 1984 he received his marching orders in Arsenal's 4-1 win at Highfield Road during the period that Bobby Gould's men were tumbling down the table. Whyte, who later played a single game for the Sky Blues on loan in 1995, scored the first Arsenal goal and Stewart Robson, another who later played for City scored the second before taking over in goal after Pat Jennings was injured. Whyte's red card was given after he retaliated to a Graham Withey challenge.

Then, in 1993, Whyte was centre half in the Leeds team that drew 3-3 with City in the final game of the season. He was ordered off after 60 minutes after his second offence with Leeds losing 2-1. Peter Ndlovu added a third to earlier goals by John Williams and Micky Quinn before, in a frantic finish, Rod Wallace scored in the 89^th and 93^rd minutes to complete a hat-trick and earn a 3-3 draw.

Lindsay is the fourth opponent to be red carded this season – the other three have all been at the CBS – and the first time the Sky Blues haven't gone on to win the game. City have, to date, not received a single red card this season. 

Kitching sets centre-back record in massive win at Riverside

Another Sky Blues victory (the 10th in 11 games) at Middlesbrough increased their lead at the top of the Championship to 10 points. I’m told that this is the biggest margin since the Championship came into being over 20 years ago. It is an amazing position to be in and, of course, all the pundits are now tipping us for automatic promotion to the Premiership.

Frank Lampard’s team are just relentless and seem able to up their game at will. Two goals down to West Brom - the team didn’t let their heads drop but turned up the heat and score three. Unlike many, I don’t believe it would have been any different if Jayson Molumby had stayed on the pitch. It might have taken a bit longer but the Sky Blues would have won. Then, at the Riverside on Tuesday night, they let a two-goal lead slip, almost conceded a third to Tommy Conway but readjusted with Jamie Allen and Jack Rudoni regaining control of midfield, and killed Boro with two late goals. Poor old Adie looked positively shell-shocked in his post-match interview but was very gracious in defeat.

The team also seem able currently to ride through injuries. When Rudoni was injured at the back end of September City fans were in despair but it opened the door for Brandon Thomas-Asante who grabbed his chance and scored eight goals in the next seven and Jack was barely missed. Haji Wright returned from international duty with an injury and suddenly there was an opportunity for Ellis Simms who has been patient as well as scoring two off the bench. Ellis has looked like a man possessed in the last two games and scored three goals, including a serious contender for goal of the season on Tuesday.

It was only in the early part of this year that the team put that amazing run of nine league wins out of 10 together . Now eight months later they’ve bettered that with 10 wins out of 11, setting a new club record. There is only one word to describe this current run - phenomenal.

The most unlikely scorer at Middlesbrough was Liam Kitching who netted twice in the 4-2 win. His first was a powerful header from a brilliant volleyed cross from Matt Grimes but he seemed to know little about his second when the ball rebounded from the goalkeeper’s boot from a vicious shot by Bobby Thomas and hit him and went in. For the second game running Thomas was lurking out to the right of the goal following a set-piece and provided a goal chance with a towering header from a Grimes chip. Liam is the first City central defender to score two goals in a league game since Reda Johnson in 2014. Reda did it on his debut, a 2-3 loss at Bradford City on the opening day of the season of 2014-15. James Hanson put the Bantams ahead before Reda headed an equaliser just before half-time. An Alan Sheehan penalty put Bradford ahead before Johnson appeared to have secured a point in the 89th minute with a scrambled effort but Hanson headed an added-time winner for Phil Parkinson’s team.

There was another instance in an EFL Trophy game in August 2016. In front of 2,091 fans the Sky Blues beat West Ham’s under 21 team 4-2 and City centre-back Jordan Turnbull scored two of the goals. Ruben Lameiras and Jordan Willis scored the other goals against a West Ham side featuring 17-year-old Declan Rice.