Sunderland’s season looks headed towards a play-off finish and there is one Championship outfit in particular fans would hate to face.
Sunderland’s campaign currently is in limbo, with the Black Cats sat firmly in fourth position, adrift from the play-off chasers but unlikely to catch the Championship’s top three of Sheffield United, Leeds and Burnley.
Regis Le Bris’ side beat West Brom 1-0 on Saturday afternoon as they continued their winning run on the back of their 1-0 win over Millwall last weekend.
Given their almost mathematically certain play-off fate, attention from the Sunderland fanbase has turned to their potential opposition beyond the regular season, with some talented teams on the cards for the ensuing showdowns.
With a raft of sides below Sunderland still battling for the elusive fifth and sixth-place Championship table finishes, there is one rival in particular that the Black Cats faithful would dread a play-off semi-final affair against.
Sunderland fans desperate to avoid Coventry in play-offs
Before Saturday afternoon’s round of Championship fixtures, if the table had ended Sunderland would be set to face Middlesbrough in the semi-final double header and one of Coventry or Burnley in the final, should they defeat their regional rivals as they did so in a 3-2 thriller earlier this year.
Coventry have now dropped out of the Championship top-six, following Saturday’s fixtures with their 2-1 home defeat to Burnley, but remain only one point adrift of a play-off place with six games to go.
Each of those opponents bode threats of their own, and the Black Cats certainly have quality in their ranks, but Coventry in particular are the one side Sunderland fans would hate to face.
The Black Cats faithful took to social media to share why the Sky Blues would strike fear into supporters’ hearts come May.
One fan wrote: “Coventry are easily the worst option – I have absolute nightmares of us getting them in the play-offs but it looks guaranteed.”
As one more added: “We’ll beat Boro, Coventry is a different matter.”
Another Sunderland fan added: “Coventry would be an absolute write off.”, as another supporter agreed: “We’d have Boro, Coventry would have us on toast though.”
Why Sunderland fans would hate to play Coventry
Coventry have historically been the ‘bogey team’ for Sunderland. The Black Cats have failed to beat the Sky Blues since their 2-0 Championship home win back in February 2007.
Since then, in ten outings within the second and third tier of English football, Sunderland have drawn five times and been beaten five times. Their most recent defeat hammering was the 3-0 defeat at Coventry prior to the international break in which the Black Cats failed to lay a glove on Frank Lampard’s in-form side.
| Sunderland statistic | vs Coventry this season |
| Games played | 2 (1 draw, 1 loss) |
| Points taken | 1 |
| Goals scored | 2 |
| Goals conceded | 5 |
Another more unseen reason why Coventry could bode play-off fear is Sunderland’s recent injury record against the Sky Blues. Last season, full-back Niall Huggins suffered a horrific ACL injury which he was stretchered off for, and has thus kept him out of action for over 16 months.
In the 2-2 draw earlier in the season, Romaine Mundle and Alan Browne were both removed due to injuries and were subsequently sidelined for months. Also, more recently in that 3-0 drumming, Dennis Cirkin was substituted off due to a hamstring concern and is still weeks away from a return.
With Sunderland’s season seeming destined to be defined in the play-offs, Premier League promotion could hinge on a clash against Coventry. Their dreadful record against the Sky Blues, combined with their recent rotten injury luck, justifiable has supporters dreading the prospect of drawing their bogey team in their potential upcoming play-off campaign.