Can a familiar foe kickstart Coventry City’s season?
14.09.26, 20:05 Updated 14.09.26, 20:05 3 Minute Read
Rich Chamberlain
On Wednesday evening, Coventry City come up against an old rival. A familiar foe who, we can only hope, might invoke some of the spirit currently missing from Frank Lampard’s side.
No, we don’t mean Aston Villa. We mean Taylor Harwood-Bellis.
Rewind to 20 December 2025. The Sky Blues were top of the Championship and travelled to St Mary’s to face Southampton. It all started so well. An Ephron Mason-Clark goal gave Coventry the lead at the break.
However, the match was turned on its head just 90 seconds into the second half when a reckless Jay Dasilva challenge earned the full-back a red card. Coventry had almost an entire half of football to negotiate with ten men against a Southampton side that had been resurgent under new boss Tonda Eckert. Nine minutes later, Southampton were level.
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Rich Chamberlain Rich is a lifelong Coventry supporter and the author of several books about the club, including When The Sky Was Blue, Benno: My Life in Football and Sky Blue Fall.