The Sky Blues welcome the visit of Hull City to the Coventry Building Society Arena in this midweek match-up. Here’s everything you need to know about our opponents.
Fact File
Name: Hull City Association Football Club
Founded: 1904
Stadium: MKM Stadium
Capacity: 25,400
Nickname: The Tigers
Address: MKM Stadium, West Park, Hull, HU3 6HU.
Pitch Size: 125 x 81 yards
The Opposition
Hull City currently sit two places above the drop zone in 20th place, albeit with breathing room of 13 points from the relegation sports.
Swansea City’s Liam Walsh, Brentford’s Marcus Forss, and Fenerbache’s Allahyar Sayyadmanesh were brought in as reinforcements in winter window as the Tigers look to remain in England’s second tier.
However, the biggest arrival in January was that of new owner, Acun Illcali.
The Turkish businessman arrived at the back end of the month to the warm welcome of the Hull faithful, making an immediate impact by sacking manager Grant McCann and replacing him with Shota Arveladze.
The Manager: Shota Arveladze
Hull City manger Shota Arveladze had a playing career that spanned eight years, with noticeable spells at clubs such as Ajax and Rangers.
Striker by nature, Arveladze began his playing days at Georgian outfit Martve Tbilisi- his hometown club- with time at Trabzonspor following.
Arveladze was a prolific goalscorer everywhere he went, scoring 258 times in 426 domestic appearances, and earned a move to Ajax in 1997.
Two league titles and half a century of goals later and the Georgian was on the move to Rangers, where he spent a further four years- winning two league titles, two Scottish Cups and two League Cups.
Following his stint with the Scottish giants, Arveladze wrapped up his career at AZ Alkmaar and finally with Levante.
After hanging up his boots, he returned to the game immediately, coming back to AZ as an assistant.
Arveladze went on to have managerial spells with Kayserispor, Kasimpasa and Trabzonspor- where he formerly played- before being appointed Maccabi Tel Aviv manager in 2016.
Following a year with the Israeli side, Arveladze found his way to Pakhtakor Tashkent FK in Uzbekistan where he spent three years prior to his first taste of English football with Hull City.
Last Six Games
Draw - Birmingham City 0-0 Hull City (Sky Bet Championship)
Lost - Hull City 0-2 West Bromwich Albion (Sky Bet Championship)
Won - Peterborough 0-3 Hull City (Sky Bet Championship)
Lost - Hull City 0-2 Barnsley (Sky Bet Championship)
Draw - QPR 1-1 Hull City (Sky Bet Championship)
Draw - Sheffield United 0-0 Hull City (Sky Bet Championship)
Last Time We Met
Matty Godden’s fourth goal of the season sealed victory last time out against the Tigers.
The Coventry striker swooped low to head into the far corner in the ninth minute, grabbing the game’s only goal at the MKM Stadium.
Further chances fell to Godden and his strike partner Viktor Gyökeres as the Sky Blues marched forward in search of a second goal.
Mark Robins’ side walked away with a clean sheet, confirmed in the late stages of the game as Simon Moore pulled off a marvellous save to deny Callum Elder.
Head-to-Head Record
Sky Blues wins - 17
Draws - 9
Hull City wins - 18
Club Connection: Richard Shaw
Having made over half of his near 600 career appearances with the Sky Blues, across a 11-year spell, Richard Shaw features as this week’s club connection.
The Brentford-born defender was nurtured as a part of Crystal Palace’s academy, making his debut in 1987 and reaching the 1990 FA Cup final with the club.
In his time with Palace, Shaw had a brief loan spell with Hull City in 1989, and moved to the Sky Blues in 1995 after seven seasons with the Eagles.
Shaw made over 350 appearances for the Sky Blues, scoring only once from the back- against Gillingham in 2004.
Whilst with City, the defender won ‘Player of the Year’ in 1998/99 and ‘Player’s Player of the Year’ in 2002/03, earning himself a testimonial match against Celtic in April 2006 with the Sky Blues running out 3-1 victors.
A move back to South London came after his Coventry days, signing with Millwall for two years to finish his professional career.
Shaw later returned the Sky Blues in 2012, taking up the role of assistant manager under Andy Thorn, and then succeeding him as caretaker manager until Mark Robins was appointed for his first City stint.
Match Officials
Thomas Bramall is the man in the middle for the midweek clash.
Bhupinder Gill and Graham Kane will fulfil linesman duties with Scott Oldham acting as the fourth official.