"Needs addressing" - Coventry City and Mark Robins given clear message on area for improvement | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk‘ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

It was another decent season for Coventry City in the Championship.

The Sky Blues lost on penalties to Luton Town in last season's play-off final, and after the departure of star duo Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer in the summer, they made a slow start to the campaign.

Coventry sat as low as 20th in the table in late November, and while they ended up missing out on the play-offs as they finished ninth, they had emerged as top six contenders after a strong second half of the season.

Coventry also enjoyed an impressive FA Cup run, and they produced a remarkable comeback from 3-0 down against Manchester United in the semi-final at Wembley to take the game to extra time.

The Sky Blues thought they had won the game in the last minute of extra time, but Victor Torp's goal was ruled out for offside, and United went on to win on penalties and progress to the final.

Owner Doug King has made clear that his ambition is to win promotion next season, and he is likely to back manager Mark Robins in the transfer market, so it could be a busy summer at the CBS Arena.

Coventry City have to improve in multiple areas

FLW's Coventry City fan pundit Neil Littlewood believes if the club are to challenge for promotion next season, they need better depth in the squad, a new first choice goalkeeper, a more testing pre-season, and most importantly, a stronger start to the campaign.

"I think there's a few things that need to change," Neil said.

"We need to address our lack of strength in depth. There's been a few times this season where if one player got injured in a certain position, Sakamoto being a prime example, we were left scratching our heads as to who was going to fill that hole.

"Many times in games this season, sides made changes against us and brought quality off the bench, and we couldn't get to the same sort of level, which I think cost us in the end.

"The cup run showed we were dead on our feet because we played Hull three days later, and we named eight players that played at Wembley, and you could see they were out on their feet. "If we had a bit more depth and quality and Robins could rotate his side a bit more, some of the mistakes we made, which is another thing we need to cut out, would have been eradicated. "I think a new number one goalkeeper is essential, but for me, the one thing we need to address more than anything is pre-season and our start to the season. "The last two years we've been in the bottom three or four come the end of October or start of November, and that's not good enough for a side that ends the season in the top half and wants to be spoken about in the same conversation as the likes of Leeds, Southampton, West Brom and Norwich, who are in the play-offs. "I look at our pre-season last year. We played Forest Green, Exeter, Shrewsbury and MK Dons, and with all due respect to those sides. Forest Green got relegated, Exeter had a half decent season, Shrewsbury were flirting with relegation from League One and MK Dons have lost in the League Two play-offs. "I don't know what the players get out of that. I'd like them to have a tough pre-season against some top quality sides. I'm not saying I want Barcelona, PSG or Real Madrid, but give me a Gefate, Club Brugge or some Dutch side, a top division European side coming over here and we can really test ourselves. "There are rumours we're playing Everton in pre-season, and if they bring a first team squad, that's a good test and a good measure of where we are. "It's something that really needs addressing, we can't keep continuing to start so slow and have the end of season rush towards the play-offs. "I think if we keep the core of our squad and add a few quality additions, there's no reason why we can't be pushing for automatic or the top four. "I want to be in a position where, come the start of April, we comfortably know we're going into the post-season, whether that be in the play-offs or as a promoted side.

"I don't want to be wondering if it's still on or if it's still alive, we're better than that, and that's something we need to show next season."

Coventry City must sustain play-off push next season

After an excellent second half of the season, it does not feel as though Coventry are too far away from mounting a serious promotion challenge.

The Sky Blues have two prolific goalscorers in Ellis Simms and Haji Wright, and the return of Tatsuhiro Sakamoto will boost their attacking options next season, but they do need greater strength in depth in case any of their stars pick up an injury, particularly with Callum O'Hare expected to depart this summer.

Coventry have made poor starts to each of the last two seasons, giving them a mountain to climb to reach the top six, and it is difficult to disagree with Neil that this is a key area in need of addressing.

If the Sky Blues can replicate their form of the last few months from the start of next season, they will be strong contenders for the play-offs, and a top two push should not be ruled out.