The Sky Blues return to Sky Bet League One action on Saturday as they host Simon Grayson’s Blackpool at St Andrews. Here is all you need to know about the opposition.
Fact File
Name: Blackpool Football Club
Nickname: The Seasiders
Founded: 1887
Stadium: Bloomfield Road
Address: Bloomfield Road, Seasiders Way, Blackpool, FY1 6JJ
Capacity: 16,616
Pitch dimensions: 112 x 74 yards
The Opposition
After a turbulent season off the field last campaign, Blackpool are now heading in a new direction under the ownership of Simon Sadler and newly appointed manager Simon Grayson.
The seasiders finished in 10th position last season three points behind the Sky Blues and have begun this season with an almost identical record as City.
Blackpool have won three and drawn three in the league scoring ten goals and conceding just five, one less that the Sky Blues.
They began their campaign with three straight victories over Bristol Rovers, Southend and Oxford whilst drawing their next three games against Gillingham, Rochdale and Portsmouth.
Frontman Armand Gnanduillet has been prolific so far this season scoring four goals in six games.
Manager
In July Simon Grayson replaced Gary Bowyer in the hot seat for his second spell in charge of Blackpool.
Grayson started his managerial career at Bloomfield Road in 2005 as a player manger but retired from playing after a year to focus on his management role.
In 2007 Grayson guided the club to promotion from Sky Bet League One with victory over Yeovil town in the play-off final.
Grayson maintained the clubs Sky Bet Championship status before leaving the club in December 2008 to manage Leeds United.
After leaving Blackpool, Grayson added another three Sky Bet League One promotions to his CV with Leeds, Huddersfield Town and Preston North End.
Most recently Grayson has had spells in charge of Bradford City and Sunderland before re-joining Blackpool over the summer.
Last Six Games
Lost- Blackpool 2-2 Macclesfield (2-3) Penalties
Won- Blackpool 2-1 Oxford United
Drew- Gillingham 2-2 Blackpool
Drew- Rochdale 0-0 Blackpool
Drew- Blackpool 1-1 Portsmouth
Won- Blackpool 5-1 Morecambe
Last Time We Met
The Sky Blues welcomed the Tangerines to the Ricoh Arena back at the end of January, with both sides looking at their chances of making the play-offs.
City were guilty of not making their dominance count in the opening period, with Conor Chaplin going close on 24 minutes.
Blackpool made their breakthrough just over a minute into the second half when Jordan Thompson's in-swinging free-kick was headed back across the face of goal by Curtis Tilt and converted by Delfouneso.
The visitors doubled their advantage just five minutes later when Gnanduillet latched onto a long ball to rifle the ball into the bottom corner.
League Games Head to Head
Coventry wins: 7
Draws: 5
Blackpool wins: 16
Club Connections:
Tommy Hutchinson
The Scottish midfielder started his career with Alloa Athletic and signed for Blackpool in 1968 making his debut against Plymouth.
Hutchinson was part of the Blackpool side that gained promotion to Division One in 1970. However, with limited first team opportunities this led to his move to the Sky Blues.
Hutchinson went on to make over 300 appearances for the Sky Blues winning the player of the season award three times along with 18 caps for his country.
After nine years with City Hutchinson moved to Manchester City and also had spells with Burnley and Swansea.
Nathan Delfouneso
Current Blackpool forward Nathan Delfouneso began his career at Aston Villa however during his time at the club Delfouneso had five loan spells at clubs including Blackpool and the Sky Blues.
After spells at Burnley and Leicester, Delfouneso joined Blackpool in 2012 for two loan spells where he made 52 appearances and scored six goals.
Delfouneso then joined City on loan in 2014 making 14 appearances and scoring three goals.
Since his time with the Sky Blues, Delfouneso has appeared for Blackburn Rovers, Bury and Swindon Town and is now in his second permeant spell with the Seasiders.
Match Officials:
Paul Marsden will be the man in the middle for Saturday’s clash with Blackpool.
Marsden has been in charge of five games across four competitions this season showing a total of 17 yellow cards and no red cards.
He will be assisted by Christopher Husband and Matthew Jones while Daniel Middleton will act as fourth official.