Coventry City’s FA Cup journey came to a dramatic halt at Wembley against Manchester United, leaving fans and players alike with a rollercoaster of emotions.

Mark Robins, the Sky Blues’ manager, couldn’t help but inject a bit of humour into the heartbreak, suggesting that perhaps a simple act of Haji Wright “cutting his toenails” could have changed the narrative.

After a breathtaking comeback from 3-0 down against Manchester United, Coventry found themselves on the brink of a historic FA Cup Final appearance. However, a VAR decision ruled Wright offside by the slimmest of margins, denying Victor Torp’s apparent winning goal in extra time.

Mark Robins’ reaction to Coventry City’s disallowed goal

Robins, never one to shy away from a witty remark, mentioned that had Wright trimmed his toenails, the outcome might have been different.

Robins, whose own exploits with Manchester United in 1990 are the stuff of legend, praised his team’s resilience and performance. Despite the disappointment, he emphasized the pride he felt in his players’ ability to claw their way back into the match, mirroring the fighting spirit of his own glory days.

Coventry City’s chief added in his post-match press conference: “Our performance will be spoken about for a long time. We are disappointed but we can’t be too down about it. For the last hour of the game we performed like Manchester United and that’s what I’m proud of.”

Coventry pushed Manchester United to the limit in the FA Cup semi-final

The match itself was a spectacle, with Coventry defying the odds after trailing 3-0. Goals from Ellis Simms and Callum O’Hare ignited hope, while Wright’s converted penalty forced the game into extra time. It was a testament to Coventry’s tenacity and refusal to back down against one of football’s giants.

Yet, as the match descended into a tense penalty shootout, Coventry’s nerves proved their undoing. Misses from O’Hare and Ben Sheaf dashed their dreams of reaching the final, leaving them with bittersweet memories of what might have been.

That’s now two penalty shootouts the Sky Blues have lost in the past season at Wembley, having fell to defeat in the Championship play-off final last term against Luton Town.

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Coventry (19th in the Championship) take on Huddersfield (17th in the Championship) on Monday September 25th, at Coventry Building Society Arena, at 20:00 PM (BST).

The last time the two sides faced, Coventry smashed Huddersfield 4-0. Goals from Viktor Gyokeres (x2), Gustavo Hamer and Tyler Walker securing the victory and the three points.

Coventry lost in their last Championship outing, losing 3-2 to Cardiff City. Goals from Dimitrios Goutas, Karlan Grant and Kion Etete for Cardiff, and goals from Matt Gooden (x2) for Coventry.

Huddersfield drew their last Championship game, 2-2 with Stoke City. Goals from Matty Pearson and Jack Rudoni for Huddersfield, and goals from Daniel Johnson and Ben Wilmot for Stoke.

How to watch Coventry vs Huddersfield

• Date: Monday, September 25th, 2023
• Kickoff: 20:00 PM (BST)
• TV Channel: Sky Sports
• Venue: Coventry Building Society Arena

Team News:

Coventry will remain without Milian van Ewijk, Ben Sheaf, Fabio Tavares and Callum O’Hare through injury, however the rest of the squad looks fit and available for Monday’s clash.

Huddersfield remain without Daniel Ward, Oliver Turton, Loick Ayina and Jonathon Hogg through injury, and the rest of their squad looks fit and ready to face Coventry on Monday.

Predicted XI:

Coventry: Wilson, Binks, McFadzean, Latibeaudiere, Dasilva, Kelly, Eccles, Kitching, Palmer, Wright, Godden.

Huddersfield: Nicholls, Ruffels, Nakayama, Helik, Pearson, Rudoni, Kasumu, Wiles, Koroma, Harratt, Thomas.

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The Mauricio Pochettino era at Chelsea is about to begin in earnest and for Blues fans it promises to be another exciting time.

If Todd Boehly can allow his ego to take a back seat in terms of transfer dealings, and Pochettino is allowed to go about his work without too much interference from the American and his board, there’s every reason to believe that the west Londoners may have a decent season ahead in 2023/24.

There will need to be some players that move on and won’t be able to share in the new dawn breaking over Stamford Bridge, with one in particular possibly dropping down a division to Championship high-flyers Coventry City.

The Sky Blues were ousted in the Championship Play-Off final by Luton Town via a high drama penalty shoot out under Mark Robins.

Though not going up is likely to have hit the Midlands-based side hard, Robins is a studious coach and Coventry have to be one of the favourites to go up next season.

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Alongside Robins is Adi Viveash, former coach of Chelsea’s academy, and the Evening Standard report that it’s that link which could see highly-rated 20-year-old defender, Bashir Humphreys, move from the west Londoners.

He does still have one year left on his contract with the Blues, however, with an option to extend this by a further 12 months, so any deal is a long way off yet, but can’t be discounted entirely.

The post In demand Chelsea star with 12 months left on his contract could move to Championship high fliers appeared first on CaughtOffside.

The pendulum in the Championship Play-Off final had really swung in the second half, and it was no surprise when Coventry equalised against Luton Town.

It was very much a game of two halves as the Hatters, dominant throughout the opening 45, seemed to lack the confidence to get forward and find a potentially season-defining second goal.

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By contrast, Mark Robins’ side were running Luton ragged, and a quick break saw Viktor Gyokeres square to Gus Hamer to pick his spot.

HAMER PUTS COVENTRY BACK IN IT! ? pic.twitter.com/iuKuyvPyoO

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) May 27, 2023

Pictures from Sky Sports

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