Exclusive: Don Goodman issues "difficult" Coventry City promotion view ahead of 2025-26 Championship | OneFootball

Could the Sky Blues be in the mix for a return to the Premier League once more this coming season?

Coventry City suffered complete and utter heartbreak in the Championship play-offs this past season - something they'll be aiming to avoid in 11 months time.

For the second time in three years, the Sky Blues made it into the post-season scramble for a spot in the Premier League, and although they didn't get to Wembley this time around like they did in 2023, the nature of their defeat to Sunderland in May was brutal.

A last-gasp Dan Ballard header at the Stadium of Light in extra time of the second leg consigned Coventry to another season in the Championship, and a 25th-straight outside of England's top flight - surely something has to change in regards to that sooner rather than later?

Don Goodman speaks out on Coventry City's promotion chances

Under Frank Lampard's management though, Coventry's early season slump was turned into a successful campaign, and they will need to use that momentum to push for promotion once more in 2025-26.

But speaking exclusively to Football League World, Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman believes it will be more difficult than ever to try and crack the automatic spots, given the strength of the three teams coming down from the Premier League, as well as the likes of Birmingham City and Wrexham coming up.

However, Goodman still thinks that Coventry will be challenging for at least the play-offs come next May, despite the likelihood of a more competitive division overall.

"I do think Coventry will be towards the top end of the table next season,

"Whether or not they could make a top two challenge is hard to say really. I think there's obviously a lot of business that needs to be done. Players will leave, players will come in, so at this stage it's difficult to say.

"What I will say is they will be up against the likes of Sheffield United, I expect to be up there again, West Brom I expect to do better, Middlesbrough, Norwich, teams like that, plus those that were relegated - Southampton, Leicester obviously came back down along with Ipswich, who will be very, very strong.

"And the clubs that came up will be strong, so I do think the Championship as a whole is going to be much stronger than last season, and that's going to make it all the more difficult for Coventry to get a top two place - I'm not saying they can't do it, I'm saying it'll be difficult."

Coventry City don't need too many changes to be a promotion contender for 2025-26

After Lampard took over from Mark Robins in the CBS Arena dugout, Coventry's form took off, winning 16 of their 29 regular season league matches at a rate of 1.79 points per match - over the course of a full season, that would equate to 82 points - an extra 13 on top of what they actually got.

It proved that the gamble to appoint Lampard had worked in the short-term and that a change of direction was needed from Robins, but it also showed that the playing squad on offer was one that was seeping with talent.

Lampard has the likes of Jack Rudoni, Haji Wright, Milan van Ewijk and Ben Sheaf among others to choose from - all players that are top Championship operators - and their results in the second half of the season suggest that they don't need to make wholesale additions in the transfer window to go a step further and win promotion.

Their divisional rivals will likely be more aggressive than ever in terms of transfers, so they will need to be smart with who they bring in, but in terms of Coventry's nucleus, Lampard must be happy that he has the remnants of a squad fully capable of mounting a promotion challenge.