Daggers versus Sky Blues

Coventry City’s competitive season begins on Tuesday night with a League Cup 1st Round tie away to League Two side Dagenham & Redbridge.

A long pre-season has seen the Sky Blues play nine friendly fixtures and recover from a hammering at Wrexham to register a trio of victories away to League Two opposition.

Potential problems off the field continue to lie in wait as the stalemate over Ricoh Arena rent shows no sign of ending while Tuesday’s Daily Mail website carries a story under the heading ‘Coventry avoid squad crisis following crunch talks’.

A closer look at the article shows the club quite rightly looking to change the way bonus payments are made after apparently paying out the best past of £1m last season despite relegation from the Championship.

Against expectations Andy Thorn has been able to make signings, eight so far with trialists still at the club but the manager will know that the goodwill that exists towards him may not survive a slow start to the season.

He is promising a full-on approach to the cup game as City look to make it out of the first round for the first time in four seasons, telling the Coventry Telegraph: ‘A decent cup run would be a great way to bring some pride back to the club.’