'Not the toughest of starts for Sky Blues'

Hull City at home at 12:30 BST on the opening day of the season won't have been on many Sky Blues' fans wish lists.

However, given that Hull only survived relegation on goal difference last season, and they're under the management of Championship newbie, Bosnian Sergej Jakirovic, it could well present an opportunity to start the 2025-26 campaign with all three points.

Trips to Derby and Oxford with QPR - also under new management - at home, doesn't seem to represent the toughest of starts.

Back to back derbies in September, away to Leicester, and Birmingham at the CBS Arena, are a bit more mouthwatering, with a first competitive visit to Wrexham since a League Cup tie way back in 1994, also catching the eye at the beginning of November.

Two home matches over Christmas, Swansea on Boxing Day, and Ipswich on December 29th, are followed by welcoming in 2026 with a trip to south London to face Charlton.

The derby returns away to Birmingham and Leicester at the CBS give the start to the New Year a slightly tricky look, but the all important run-in looks a lot more friendly, on paper at least.

The Sky Blues face Blackburn away and Portsmouth at home over Easter – Wrexham at the Arena is the last home game, and Vicarage Road, Watford, is where the Sky Blues finish the campaign, hopefully celebrating automatic promotion to the Premier League, but if not that, at the very least, another play-off place.

As we all know, though, an awful lot of water has got to flow under the bridge between now and then.