Frank Lampard’s Coventry City will be looking for a springboard win on Tuesday night when they make the lengthy trip down to Plymouth Argyle in the second round of the Carabao Cup.
Last year’s Championship winners endured a baptism of fire on Friday night, as they were beaten 3-0 at the Emirates in arguably as tough an opening game as they could have wished for. Lampard is likely to shuffle his pack for the cup tie, with a flurry of changes expected for the clash. New striker Taiwo Awoniyi could well be handed his full debut against Tom Cleverley’s side.
Ahead of the match, Lampard has been talking up the former Nottingham Forest forward: “He brings his attributes, which are quite clear to the eye in terms of his strength and his power and speed. And also around the box, which he obviously couldn’t get around there too much today, but he scores goals.
“He scored goals against my teams before. He also brings this kind of presence as a teammate. I saw as he left Nottingham Forest all of that love that the club had for him and his teammates and that’s what we need, the local people who come in with that kind of energy. And yeah, I think he’s going to be a big player for us and very happy to have him.”
As for Awoniyi’s fitness, he said: “I think it was the perfect amount of minutes for him. He hasn’t played so many minutes in pre-season but he’s going to get better and better for us with those number nine attributes that he has.”
Regarding the Pilgrims, they have made a slow start to their League One campaign with just one point on the board from their opening two encounters. They at least got off the mark at the weekend, playing out an entertaining 1-1 draw with Wycombe Wanderers.
Boss Cleverley has alluded to the possibility of skipper Joe Edwards being included against the Sky Blues in what would be his first taste of action this term. “Joe had a planned injection last week that can sometimes irritate the knee, a little bit of swelling meant we didn’t risk him last Saturday,” Cleverley said on the eve of this meeting. “He should train on Monday with a view to being involved in the game on Tuesday.
