"Already accepted defeat" - Confident Coventry City shot fired at Sunderland ahead of Championship play-off clash | OneFootball

FLW's Coventry City fan pundit discussed his side's chances against Sunderland in the upcoming Championship play-off semi-finals

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Coventry City may just fancy their chances this coming Friday as they prepare for the first of two play-off semi final legs against an out-of-form Sunderland side.

The Sky Blues clinched a fifth-placed finish on the final day of the season with a 2-0 home victory over fellow play-off contenders Middlesbrough, which marked a much-needed return to winning ways following consecutive defeats to relegated duo Plymouth and Luton Town.

Inconsistency has crept in across recent weeks, although Coventry did enough by winning three of their final six outings to ensure their second play-off finish inside just three seasons.

They will now be looking ahead to this Friday's play-off semi-final first leg at home to Sunderland with both confidence and momentum, a feeling perhaps only amplified by the Black Cats' notable regression over the last few months. Sunderland, of course, spent much of the campaign battling for automatic promotion but, after those hopes were bruised and all-but-buried, their form - with a fourth-placed finish having been virtually sealed for the last two months - has been a real cause for concern.

Regis Le Bris' side have struggled for consistency in the latter stages of the campaign, though their end-of-season run-in has been nothing short of a disaster.

All the Black Cats' final five outings ended in defeat as they lost successively to Swansea City, Bristol City, Blackburn, Oxford and most recently QPR, a factor which is already inspiring much confidence among the Sky Blues faithful - and, rather unsurprisingly, the polar opposite on Wearside.

Confident Coventry City play-off verdict given ahead of Sunderland AFC clash

Ahead of the upcoming clash at the CBS Arena, FLW asked our Coventry fan pundit, Chris Deez, whether he is confident that his side will see past Sunderland across two legs.

Chris is confident that Frank Lampard's men will make it to the final at Wembley later this month owing to the contrast in form and momentum between his side and Sunderland, citing that Sunderland supporters have already "accepted defeat" owing to their alarming losing streak.

"I am quite confident that we'll get past Sunderland, especially over two legs," Chris told FLW.

"I think our momentum from getting into the play-offs on the last day of the season will help us, [and] the fact that they are going into the game five losses on the bounce.

"I don't know how much of that might come down to the fact that they've known for ages they were going to be fourth, couldn't go any higher and couldn't drop down to fifth.

"I don't know if their players downed tools or if they rested key players or anything like that, but I'd like to think that our momentum and their lack of momentum will hopefully go in our favour.

"Our key players have come back at the right time. [Jack] Rudoni is on absolute fire at the minute, Bobby Thomas being back is amazing, Lampard finally had the guts to drop Brad Collins and recall Ben Wilson and look what that did against Middlesbrough.

"It was an absolutely inspired decision that, sadly, he didn't make a few weeks earlier, but at least we're there now.

"From what I've seen across social media, it seems like the vast majority of Sunderland fans have already accepted defeat and that we're going to beat them.

"We've got a very good record against them. Obviously, because of them being in the Premier League, we went many years without playing them, but they'd not beaten us since 2007.

"I think the next time we played them was in 2018, something like that. So it's been about six or seven years since they've beaten us, and that has to do wonders for the players.

"It's the play-offs, you can't be 100 per cent confident and put all your eggs in one basket. But I am quietly confident that we can get the job done."

Jack Rudoni's form could have decisive Coventry City impact against Sunderland AFC

Another factor which potentially leans in Coventry's favour is the electric form of the aforementioned Rudoni, who, as Chris put it, has indeed been on "absolute fire" in recent times.

A £5 million acquisition from Huddersfield Town last summer, Rudoni has excelled in his first season in the West Midlands.

The versatile playmaker, who is most at home in attacking midfield but can, and has, operated in a deeper midfield role or out wide as either a winger or even at wing-back, has registered the joint-sixth most combined goal contributions in the Championship this term with a career-best return of nine goals and 12 assists.

Importantly, though, his best form has been coming at the best time, with his performances playing a vital role in Coventry's run to the play-offs.

The 23-year-old star hit a brace in the final day victory over Middlesbrough and has posted six goals and five assists from his last 13 matches. Rudoni, much like Coventry, is heading into the play-offs full of form and confidence.

The likes of Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and Haji Wright, the latter of whom scored a notable hattrick in the 3-0 win over Sunderland back in March, could each promise to have a say in proceedings, too, but Rudoni's impact has been all-important at the perfect time, and it's hard to look past the maestro as a star player who is capable of making the difference across two legs and potentially beyond.