Meet the opposition | Coventry City
As Swansea City get set to take on Coventry City, we take a closer look at the Sky Blues.
WHAT'S THEIR STORY?
Singers FC was formed in 1883 by a group of men at the Singer Factory Gentleman’s Club, and five years later they changed the team name to Coventry City. After 11 years competing in the Southern League, they were elected to the Football League in 1919.
Between 1925 and 1958 Coventry spent their time between non-league and the EFL but, under the guidance of manager Jimmy Hill, they manufactured a meteoric rise in the early 1960s and reached the top tier for the first time in 1967.
The Sky Blues remained there for 34 years before suffering relegation in 2001. They dropped to Sky Bet League One just over a decade later and, in 2017, they were relegated to League Two.
The appointment of Mark Robbins as manager (for the second time) proved to be a shrewd one. They spent just one season in the fourth tier under him before earning promotion via the play-offs in 2018. The Sky Blues went on to become champions of the curtailed 2019-20 League One season on a points per game basis.
They have impressed since returning to the second tier and were beaten play-off finalists when they lost to Luton Town back in May.
Coventry's only major trophy came in 1987 when they defeated Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 to win the FA Cup, with Keith Houchen's diving header proving one of the iconic Wembley goals.
HOW'S THEIR FORM?
Improving. Coventry had a tough start to the season, but have got better as the campaign has gone on and are currently enjoying their best run.
They are unbeaten in seven of their last eight games, taking a point from meetings with promotion hopefuls Southampton and Leeds United.
They have not lost on home soil since October.
WHO'S THE GAFFER?
Mark Robins. The 53-year-old came through the ranks at Manchester United and made around 50 appearances for the club before moving on to Norwich City. He played more than 400 games in a 17-year playing career, but is best known for time with the Canaries and Leicester City.
The striker scored more than 100 career goals and took his first steps into management in 2007 when he took the reins at Rotherham United on a caretaker basis. After picking up three wins in six, Robins was given the role permanently and went on to have two successful campaigns with the Millers.
He left to join their south Yorkshire rivals Barnsley before heading to Coventry for his first spell in charge of the Midlands club. He helped turn the side from relegation battlers to promotion contenders, but soon departed for another Yorkshire side in Huddersfield Town.
In 2014, he took over at struggling Scunthorpe United but was dismissed after only eight games in charge.
He returned to the Sky Blues in March 2017 and guided them to an unexpected EFL Trophy win less than a month later, but he was unable to prevent relegation to the fourth tier.
However, Robins galvanised the club and led them to promotion via the play-offs with a 3-1 win over Exeter City at Wembley the following campaign.
Two seasons later, he led Coventry to the League One title during the curtailed 2019-20 season to make a return to the Championship, where they have performed strongly.
WHO'S THE CAPTAIN?
Scottish midfielder Liam Kelly was named club captain in February 2019, however, he has been absent since suffering a hamstring injury against Blackburn Rovers in October.
In his absence, Kyle McFadzean (above), Ben Sheaf and Matty Godden have worn the armband.
McFadzean led the side with distinction through much of last season. The 36-year-old joined Coventry from Burton Albion in 2019, and has made over 150 appearances.
McFadzean previously had spells with Sheffield United, Alfreton, Crawley and MK Dons.
You can read more about midfielder Sheaf below.
WHO ARE THE KEY MEN?
Former Arsenal player Sheaf is industrious in the middle of the park, keeping them ticking over and sweeping up play to allow those ahead of him to cause problems.
As technically gifted as you would expect of a Gunners' academy product, he made his senior debut against Red Star Belgrade in the Europa League back in 2017.
Loan spells with Stevenage and Doncaster followed, before he made the initial loan move to the CBS Arena in the summer of 2020.
His showings convinced manager Mark Robins to make the deal permanent the following summer and he has been a regular ever since.
Midfielder Callum O’Hare has been a stand-out performer for the Sky Blues in recent seasons, and he has been returning to his best having missed the opening months of the season through injury.
O'Hare, who netted a brace in the Sky Blues win over Birmingham earlier this month, came through the Aston Villa academy and made nine senior appearances in total for the Villans.
He also enjoyed productive loan spells with Carlisle and Coventry before making the full-time switch to the latter in 2019.
His attacking guile helped the Sky Blues return to the Championship and he has 10 goals in 111 appearances for the club.
Striker Haji Wright has six goals and four assists since joining Coventry in the summer.
The Los Angeles-born forward has spent most of his career in Europe after initially emerging at Los Angeles Galaxy.
He went on to join Schalke and has since had spells with SV Sandhausen, VVV Venlo, Sønderjyske and Antalyaspor.