FORMER England striker Kevin Phillips has backed Coventry City to triumph in this weekend’s M69 derby game against Leicester City.
Phillips won eight caps for England during his playing career and achieved promotion to the Premier League on five separate occasions.
He memorably won the European Golden Shoe and Premier League Golden Boot when playing for Sunderland in 1999/00 after scoring 30 goals in 36 games.
The former striker finished his career at the Foxes, scoring two goals in 12 appearances, as Leicester won the Championship title in 2013/14.
However, despite Coventry’s indifferent form of late, Phillips expects the Sky Blues to return to winning ways against the Foxes.
Speaking to BestBettingSites.co.uk, Phillips said: “It’s been over a few weeks where the form has dipped just before Christmas.
“We asked Frank, when I was working for TV, whether he was going to dip into the transfer market and try to strengthen the squad.
“Obviously, he lost his top goal scorer, Brandon Thomas-Asante, who was on fire. And he said himself, yes, we will look to strengthen.
“They brought Esse in from Palace. But Frank is clearly trying to strengthen that squad because he knows he’s in an unbelievable position.
“They are still six points clear at the top of the league, which is huge.
“So the fans shouldn’t panic just yet. They’re in a good position, but they clearly need to get back to winning ways.
“So they’ve lost, drawn and lost in their last three games; they need a win, simple as that.
“The sooner they can get Thomas-Asante back who’s on 10 goals, the better.
“But they have Ellis Simms, who’s chipped in with nine, Haji Wright with eight, plus a couple of more players, so I think they’ll be fine.
“Midlands derby, they’re literally just down the road from each other, but I’m going to go with a home win for Coventry, and I’m going to go 2-1 Coventry.”