By Paul Smith 
Coventry head coach Alex Rae has given a vote of confidence to the starting line-up that produced three first-half tries during last week’s home win over Doncaster for tomorrow’s trip to Bedford (Goldington Road, 7.45pm kick off).
As a result, the only change to the run-on team sees Charlie Robson retain the full back shirt he wore for the final 70 minutes of the round 11 clash following Liam Richman’s departure from the field with back pain.
Robson is joined in the back three by Jimmy Martin and David Opoku – the scorer of Cov’s third try against the Knights.
This means former Bedford Blue Ryan Hutler again wears the outside centre shirt while making his 15th consecutive start of the season with Daf Tiueti operating inside him.
Rae and his coaching team name an unchanged front row in which Eliot Salt retains the starting tight-head role alongside skipper Jordon Poole and recent centurion Toby Trinder.
Last week’s player-of-the-match Aaron Hinkley starts on the openside flank with Tiki Nayalo and Tom Ball completing the back row.
Cov make three changes on the bench where once again they opt for three backs and five forwards.
Fit-again prop Billy Nairau returns from a six-match absence with a knee injury sustained against Northampton in the cup to provide cover for Salt.
Irish back-rower Dan Okeke is also in line to play a part in this second-versus-third clash while fly half Theo Mannion will make his first competitive Coventry appearance of the season if he appears from among the replacements.
Coventry head coach Alex Rae said he is really looking forward to renewing rivalry with Bedford where he spent much of his playing career.
“Bedford are a really good team who are having a successful season,” he said. “We’ve got a strong recent track-record against them as we’ve won the last seven league games so they’ll be looking to break that sequence and get that monkey off their back.
“Goldington Road is always a tough place to go but it’s also a great place to play rugby under lights on a Friday night. They always have good crowds who get a bit stuck into the visiting team and I hope we hear lots of boos and hisses as we’re squeezing the life out of them and stopping the free-flowing attacking game they like to play.”
Coventry: Charlie Robson; David Opoku, Ryan Hutler, Daf-Rhys Tiueti, Jimmy Martin; Tommy Mathews, Josh Barton; Toby Trinder, Jordon Poole, Eliot Salt; Obinna Nkwocha, James Tyas; Tom Ball, Aaron Hinkley, Senitiki Nayalo
Replacements: Will Biggs, Jevaughn Warren, Vilikesa Nairau, Chester Owen, Dan Okeke, Sam Maunder, Tom Hitchcock, Theo Mannion
Match tickets for Cov’s next home game against Nottingham in the Premiership Rugby Cup on Saturday February 1st can be purchased at https://www.coventryrugby.co.uk/tickets/matchday-tickets/
