Palace v Coventry City

Selhurst Park, Tuesday 8.00pm

Story so far

Coventry have found themselves at the right end of the table early into the campaign.

Late last season, after his disastrous stint at Charlton, Iain Dowie moved on to Coventry and finished the season in a pretty average manner. So far, the Sky Blues have seen what Dowie is capable of - getting the best out of an average squad and pushing them up the table.

The question, though, is how long he can sustain this for? Well Dowie's fitness first approach has definitely had the intended impact. But, by all accounts, Coventry's football, passing and general was well below par for their trouncing against Bristol City.

Dowie has assembled a balanced Championship squad that has the potential to hit the top of the league or to sit in midtable.

This is Dowie's first appearance amongst Palace fans since the crashing out of the play-offs. How will he be treated on his return? Well he's been proven to lie his way out of a contract but he also brought Palace their best season and a bit for a very long time.

Team news

Defender Matt Lawrence hopes to have shaken off a groin problem which ruled him out of Saturday's defeat at Norwich.

Mark Kennedy is sidelined with a calf strain, while Ben Watson (ankle) and Paul Ifill (hamstring) are still out.

Eagles boss Peter Taylor said: "Ifill is still not confident on his hamstring. This is very frustrating as this is his strongest part of his game.

"He would be one of the quickest players we’ve got, so we are missing that and we’re missing his type. People like him can upset a defence and at the moment we haven’t got that so it’s very frustrating."

Coventry winger Julian Gray won't get a chance of playing against his old club after suffering knee ligament damage against Preston earlier this month.

Midfielder Isaac Osbourne (knee), striker Michael Mifsud (stomach) are major doubt's for the Sky Blues.

Quotes

Iain Dowie said: "There were positives to take out of the game in that we responded very well after Bristol City went ahead and also Ellery Cairo and Arjan De Zeeuw got 90 minutes under their belts.

"I've got no doubt about the response because the lads have given me everything they have got from minute one this season in terms of effort and commitment.

"That's all we can ask for and I'm sure the character of the players will come through.

"I will go back to Palace as Coventry's manager and embrace whatever they give me, whether that is boos, cheers or shouts.

"You just have to take that on the chin, but I know that I did a good job at Palace and that's all that matters to me.

"I have a great affinity for Crystal Palace. They are a good traditional South London club and I had a great time there."

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Coventry City - league stats

Position	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
3rd	5	3	1	1	10

Full league table

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Coventry City - current form

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
5	3	1	1	8	6

Full form table

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Our home record v Coventry City

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
46	16	17	13	56	54

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Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
13/01/2007	League	Coventry City	2 - 4	Crystal Palace
23/09/2006	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 0	Coventry City
22/11/2005	League	Crystal Palace	2 - 0	Coventry City
15/10/2005	League	Coventry City	1 - 4	Crystal Palace
20/09/2005	League Cup	Crystal Palace	1 - 0	Coventry City

All time results

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One to watch

Jay Tabb

I would have said Julian Gray but, fortunately for us, he won't make the game.

However, the Tooting-born Jay Tabb will be making some sort of appearance on Saturday, whether that be on either wing or central midfield.

Tabb was released from Palace at a tender age of 16 after being told that he would not make it as a professional footballer - 5'7" is too short, you see.

Tabb's best attribute is his pace and control of the ball. Unfortunately for him, this means that he is often deployed on the wing where his creativity becomes wasted.

Ref watch

K A Woolmer

Last meeting

Coventry City 2-4 Palace

Saturday January 13 2007

Coventry City: Steele, Whing, Page, Virgo (Birchall, 46), Hall, Tabb, Osbourne, Hughes, McKenzie (Mifsud, 71), Kyle, John

Subs not used: Lee-Barrett, Adebola, Turner

Yellow Card: Page

Goals: McKenzie 45, Kyle 57

Palace: Flinders, Hudson, Cort, Ward, Lawrence, Green (Soares, 75), Fletcher, Kennedy, McAnuff, Freedman (Ifill, 66), Kuqi

Subs not used: Wilkinson, Morrison, Butterfield

Goals: Fletcher 19, Kuqi 27, Cort 28, McAnuff 39

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