Stat Attack: Coventry City vs. Notts County, Saturday 5 August 2017

There haven’t been many fixtures between Notts County and Coventry City, in all fairness: just 38 in the last 97 years.

The first encounter took place on the 6th November 1920, the match at Meadow Lane ending in a 1-1 draw.

The last one, meanwhile, was on 6th April 2015, a goalless draw.

There have plenty of high-scoring games between the two, with several 5-1s, 3-0s and 4-2s over the years.

Notts County have the upper hand in the head-to-heads – 19 victories over the Sky Blues, 11 defeats and 8 draws.

In 2001, Coventry were relegated from the Premier League after 34 years in the first tier. At the time, only Liverpool, Everton and Arsenal could boast longer tenures in the top flight.

A year later, they were relegated to the third tier in English Football for the first time in 48 years, and now, they have slipped down into the bottom tier, compounding a Portsmouth-like fall from grace.

Coventry’s new stadium, the 32,609-capacity Ricoh Arena, was opened in August 2005, but following a rent dispute with the ground's owners the club opted to play their home games at Northampton Town's Sixfields Stadium starting in the 2013–14 season, a move which didn’t prove popular with Sky Blues fans.

On 21 August 2014, it was announced an agreement had been reached allowing the club to return to the Ricoh Arena for the next two years with the option of another two years.

It has been reported that there will be a relocation to another site within the city, as the tenancy with the Ricoh Arena expires in August 2018.

The club’s proudest moment was undoubtedly the 1987 FA Cup final at Wembley, which was won by the Sky Blues thanks to an enthralling 3-2 win after two hours of football.

Following Tottenham Hotspur player Gary Mabbutt’s own goal in extra time, which set Coventry on the way to their win, a fanzine was created called GMK – Gary Mabbutt’s Knee!

Team News

Coventry will be without Ryan Haynes - the defender suffered a knee injury early on in the Sky Blues' pre-season preparations and still has around another month to go in his recovery.

Goalkeeper Lee Burge is struggling with a shoulder injury and a late decision will be made about his involvement.

New signings Michael Doyle, Liam O'Brien, Marc McNulty, Rod McDonald, Liam Kelly, Dominic Hyam, Maxime Biamou, Jack Grimmer and Peter Vincenti are all available to make their debuts

Michael O'Connor is expected to be the only player missing through injury for Notts County.

The midfielder is recovering from a knee operation after suffering cruciate ligament damage towards the end of last season and he will not play again until 2018.

Defender Richard Duffy will captain the team in his absence.

New signings Terry Hawkridge, Lewis Alessandra, Shaun Brisley, Jorge Grant, Dan Jones, Liam Walker, Branislav Pindroch, Pierce Bird and Callum Saunders will all be hoping to make their debuts.

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