How did they do last season?
The Sky Blues suffered relegation last season after finishing 23rd in League One. Tony Mowbray began the campaign in charge, before he was dismissed leaving Mark Venus to take the reigns at the Ricoh Arena.
Russell Slade arrived four days before Christmas before leaving the club in early March – he was replaced by Mark Robins who couldn’t prevent the Sky Blues from slipping into League Two.
On the pitch the club did however win silverware – they defeated Oxford United 2-1 at Wembley Stadium in the EFL Trophy final.
In the league the side won just four of their first 31 games – and the first of them wasn’t until the beginning of October – they did however salvage their form at the end of the campaign, remaining unbeaten in their final five home matches of the season.
Who stood out?
Academy product George Thomas scored his first goal for the club in the EFL Trophy win over Wycombe Wanderers back in November, and ended up being the side’s top scorer during a difficult campaign – notching nine times, including in the Wembley victory over Oxford United.
The Manager
Mark Robins returned to the Sky Blues in March having previously been in charge during the 2012-13 campaign before he left for Huddersfield Town. Robins soon made an impression with the fans as he took the club from relegation strugglers to play-off contenders.
Last season he couldn’t prevent relegation, but the fans will no doubt be pleased to have a fan favourite at the helm as they bid for an immediate return to the third tier.
Summer moves
Robins has been very active during the transfer marker so far, signing no fewer than eight new faces.
Michael Doyle and goalkeeper Liam O’Brien have joined from Portsmouth, and defender Dominic Hyam and Rod McDonald have joined from Reading and Northampton Town respectively.
In midfielder, Liam Kelly joins from Leyton Orient and Peter Vincenti has made the switch to the Ricoh Arena from Rochdale.
In attack, Marc McNulty has joined from Sheffield United.
Our Previous Meetings
The sides last met in the EFL Trophy last season at the Ricoh Arena, and Marvin Sordell’s goal gave the Sky Blues a 1-0 victory over the Reds.
All other six meetings between the sides have come in League One – the Reds' last victory over the Sky Blues came on the opening day of the 2013-14 season when goals from Jamie Proctor, Joe Walsh and Mike Jones gave the side a 3-2 victory to start their campaign in League One.
The most recent of those league contests was the final game of the 2014-15 season where the Reds lost 2-1 in front of a crowd of over 5500 at the Checkatrade Stadium and suffered relegation to League Two.
The odds
The Sky Blues are 8/1 to lift the title next season and 15/8 to get promoted – find a list of all of the odds ahead of the new campaign here.
