Coventry City

"He's pretty dynamic - he's a really strong athlete and really pacy as well."

"He's still 22, and there's still improvement to come but on the whole Preston would have loved to have kept him."

BBC CWR's Will Oelrich spoke to BBC Lancashire's Gary Hunt about Coventry's rumoured pursuit of Aston Villa defender Kaine Kesler-Hayden, who spent last season on loan at Preston North End.

Listen to the full interview and more on BBC Sounds.

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Coventry are set to complete the signing of Aston Villa defender Kaine Kesler-Hayden after beating off competition from Stoke.

The full-back is due for a medical with the Sky Blues with a deal - worth slightly more than £3.5m - agreed.

Stoke also wanted the 22-year-old but the lure of playing for Frank Lampard, who guided Coventry to the Championship play-offs last season, was key for Kesler-Hayden.

He impressed on loan at Preston last season - winning both the player of the season and young player of the season awards.

Kesler-Hayden came through the ranks at Villa, making four substitute appearances, and any cash will help the club as they look to comply with profit and sustainability rules.

It's been confirmed that Coventry's opening game of the season will be against last season's relegation-strugglers Hull City.

The Tigers just avoided the drop to League One by goal difference last season - but Sky Blues commentator and former goalkeeper Steve Ogrizovic believes it's not guaranteed to be an easy start.

"Hull are underachievers, I think, they tend to buy in foreign markets. I thought they would have had a better season last year than what they did," Ogrizovic told BBC Radio CWR.

"New manager, doubtless number of new players as well. It's an unknown quantity.

"But on the face of it, it looks a nice start."

Coventry will not face any team that made the top 14 last season in August however, the following month will see them take a short trip to freshly relegated Leicester City before hosting newly promoted Birmingham City in a West Midlands derby.

They open September by hosting Norwich City, a team who beat them in both fixtures last season.

"Coventry can do themselves a lot of good in August if they start well," Ogrizovic added.

"But then in September, it really hits you because Norwich are always a difficult fixture. We struggle against them for some reason.

"By that time, players are starting to get into the season, they've found their feet. That'll be a truer test of what kind of side we are and what we are going to do that particular year."

Listen to Ogrizovic's full thoughts and more on BBC Sounds.

Rob Gurney
BBC CWR

Image source, Rex Features

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.

The EFL fixture list is out and we know you are bursting to know what you've got to look forward to - or dread - from your team this upcoming season.

Here are some key dates to put in your diary:

• 9 August - v Hull City (H)

• 16 August - v Derby (A)

• 20 September - v Leicester (A)

• 26 December - v Swansea (H)

• 1 January 2026 - v Charlton (A)

• 17 January - v Leicester (H)

• 2 May - v Watford (A)

See Coventry City's full fixture list here.

Your club will soon discover their schedule for the upcoming EFL season. As soon as Thursday, in fact.

Want to know who your side will face on opening day? The EFL fixtures will be announced at 12:00 BST - but that's not all.

The day will be rounded off by the first round of Carabao Cup being drawn at 16:30 BST.

So check back on 26 June to see who your team faces first, last and everything in between.

Middlesbrough are interested in signing Aston Villa defender Kaine Kesler-Hayden, 22, but will face competition from fellow Championship sides Southampton and Coventry City. (Birmingham World, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Tuesday's gossip column here.

Tributes have been paid to Coventry City commentator Clive Eakin who has laid down the microphone after 24 years of covering the club for BBC CWR.

A special hour-long live show was held at HMV Empire in Coventry for fans and colleagues to reflect on Eakin's career as the voice of a Sky Blues generation.

"I have been overblown by the reaction after the news was announced," said Eakin, who started working for the BBC in 1988 and began his role covering Coventry in 2001.

"It's been very touching."

Eakin worked across more than 1,200 games and with 14 different permanent managers, watching Coventry go from the Championship down to League Two and back again.

He saw the Sky Blues win the League Two play-offs in 2017-18, the League One title in 2019-20 and suffered the FA Cup semi-final heartbreak against Manchester United in April 2024, as well as this year's Championship play-off agony.

"The biggest thing I can say is you've been through the biggest lows of Coventry City and the highs," said ex-Coventry player Michael Doyle.

"I think the one constant at the club through all that time has been yourself. I think for a lot of people in Coventry, it will be your voice that they remember."

Fellow commentator Clive Tyldesley said: "Football is about memories. To be somebody who becomes part of people's memories of those matches is what makes our job really special and you've done that.

"You've connected with millions of people that you'll never meet and they think they know you. They trust you because of your knowledge and because of your warmth and your commitment."

Listen to In Conversation with Clive Eakin on BBC Sounds.

Ben Ashton
BBC Sport England

Image source, Getty Images

Watford are getting relegated, Plymouth are staying up, Millwall are in the play-offs and Portsmouth are also battling for a top-six spot.

Does something sound a bit off? Well, that's what would have happened if the Championship season started on 1 January.

Here's a look at the 2025 calendar year table, showing who the form sides were in the second half of the season and who went into freefall.

Perhaps the most notable difference between the actual final top six and the 2025 version is that Millwall would be in the play-offs and Premier League-bound Sunderland would not.

Burnley and Leeds still comfortably occupy the automatic promotion spots, albeit the Clarets would be unbeaten at the top of the pile with the Whites in second.

Coventry improved significantly after Frank Lampard replaced Mark Robins and are third over the course of the year.

The Sky Blues would instead be pitted against Bristol City in the play-off semi-final as opposed to Sunderland. Who knows what difference that would have made to their promotion bid...

Image source, Rex Features

Portsmouth - who spent much of the season battling relegation and only secured their Championship safety with two games to spare - are seventh and just one point outside a play-off spot.

Pompey sit above Sunderland, who lost their final five games of the season and are down in eighth.

The data perhaps shows just how long Regis Le Bris' side effectively had a play-off spot sewn up before their victory at Wembley against Sheffield United to claim promotion.

Relegation battlers Oxford find themselves seven places higher than where they actually finished in the 2024-25 campaign (17th), reflecting the good work done by Gary Rowett after he took over as boss from Des Buckingham.

Image source, Rex Features

Plymouth would have survived comfortably had the season begun in January 2025, showing a significant uptick after Miron Muslic replaced Wayne Rooney at the helm.

Middlesbrough tailed off significantly in the second half of the season, underpinning why they missed out on the play-offs. It was a drop off that ultimately cost Michael Carrick his job as head coach.

Norwich City conceded more goals (32) than any other side in 2025, which counteracted the hard work they'd done at the other end, having been the fourth top scorers (31) since the turn of the year.

Image source, Rex Features

Watford had a disappointing 2025, winning just five of their 23 games and losing 13 to finish bottom of the calendar year table.

The Hornets had the joint-worst goal difference along with Cardiff (-10) and head coach Tom Cleverley was sacked following the end of the season.

Preston and Cardiff won the fewest games of any side in 2025 (4), which cost the Bluebirds their Championship status and almost led to the Lilywhites dropping into League One as they avoided relegation by one point.

Paul Heckingbottom's side would be down if only games this year were counted.

Luton and Derby scored the fewest goals in 2025 (19) and attacking output was an issue that plagued both sides throughout the entire campaign.

It had major consequences for the Hatters with back-to-back relegations, while the Rams survived by a point - and only on goal difference in the yearly table.

Data collated from Transfermarkt

BBC Radio CWR's Coventry City commentator Clive Eakin is hanging up his headset after 24 years.

Join Eakin as he reflects back on a long career as the voice of the Sky Blues at 18:00 BST on BBC Radio CWR or online with BBC Sounds on Monday.

Going to miss it? Don't panic. The episode will be available shortly after broadcast right here on the BBC website.

Ben Ashton
BBC Sport England

Image source, Getty Images

The 2024-25 Championship season might be over but there are many ways to analyse and reflect on the campaign that has gone before us.

Not every club can go up but if there are signs a team is moving in the right direction, it can still be considered good progress - or quite the opposite if things are on the slide.

Here is a look at how each of the 18 sides who were in the Championship for the past two seasons got on points wise compared to the 2023-24 campaign.

It perhaps comes as no surprise that Sunderland, who won promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs, recorded the most significant improvement after finishing 16th in 2023-24 and picked up 20 more points.

Despite a tumultuous season off the field, Blackburn were the second most improved side in the division, gaining 13 points on the previous campaign as they missed out on the play-offs by just two points.

Leeds racked up 90 points in 2023-24 but somehow still managed a 10-point improvement as they hit the 100 mark on their way to winning the title in their best-ever season in the second tier.

Millwall's seven-point improvement was enough to help them finish five places higher in eighth, but they fell short of the top six by two points.

Meanwhile, Bristol City were only six points better off but managed to climb five places and claim a play-off spot, recording their best Championship finishing position since 2007-08.

Coventry also only improved by five points but were able to jump from ninth to fifth, perhaps showing just how fine the margins can be in the Championship when it comes to securing a play-off berth.

At the bottom...

Image source, Getty Images

You might want to look away now, Hull City fans.

The Tigers went backwards more than any other side compared to the previous season under Liam Rosenior, dropping from seventh place and three points outside the play-offs to only escaping relegation on goal difference on the final day.

Cardiff went from mid-table in 2023-24 to rock bottom and will drop down to League One for the first time in 22 years. It is pretty clear to see why as the Bluebirds picked up 18 fewer points compared to the previous season.

Norwich tumbled to 13th place after finishing in the play-offs a year before - an underperformance which ultimately cost Johannes Hoff Thorup his job as head coach.

Preston were 10 points off the play-off places in 2023-24 but picked up 13 fewer points under Paul Heckingbottom in what was their worst season since they were relegated from the Championship in 2010-11.

The Lilywhites' downturn was largely due to a major dip in form in the latter stages of the campaign, picking up only one win from their final 15 games (D7 L7) to avoid the drop by just one point.

West Bromwich Albion endured a disappointing season - for a club which always harbours ambitions of plying its trade in the top flight - with an 11-point drop off.

Albion's final points tally of 64 was their worst in the Championship since 1999-2000.

Plymouth may have only been five points worse off than they were in 2023-24 but having survived on the final day that season, there were to be no such heroics this time around and their two-year stint in the second tier is over.

And the rest...

Image source, Getty Images

*All data based only on teams who were in the Championship in 2023-24 and 2024-25

Image source, Getty Images

Coventry City will host Spanish La Liga side Real Betis at the CBS Arena on 30 July as part of their pre-season campaign.

Seville-based Betis lost to Premier League side Chelsea in the Europa Conference League final in May but enjoyed a successful season, beating top clubs such as Real Madrid to end the season in sixth and secure European football again.

The match will mark the first meeting between the two sides.

The Sky Blues are also set to travel to League Two's Bristol Rovers the week prior for their first meeting since 2020 - the year Coventry last secured promotion to the Championship.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Coventry City defender David Busst has received the Professional Footballers' Association's Lifetime Achievement Award for his work with the club's community programme.

The PFA accolade, which recognises Busst's work at the club and 22 years running the Sky Blues in the Community programme, was presented at City's final game of the regular season against Middlesbrough at CBS Arena.

Having started his career with non-league Moor Green, Busst joined Premier League Coventry in 1992. Four years later, after 60 appearances for the Sky Blues, he suffered a horrendous broken leg during a match at Manchester United which required 26 operations and ended his playing career.

The following year Busst was appointed as a community coach working in local schools before taking over Sky Blues in the Community in 2003.

Dave Palmer, PFA community director, and Stephen Raynor, senior community liaison executive, presented Busst with his award, with Palmer saying: "No-one is more deserving than Dave.

"He embodies what the PFA strived to achieve in those early days, community transition and career opportunities for our members and Dave's story is a hugely inspiring one.

"He has been a wonderful PFA advocate and is greatly respected by his peers within the network. What he has accomplished during a period of over 30 years with Coventry, firstly as a player and then with great leadership and longevity as head of Sky Blues in the Community has been incredible and truly impactful both for the club and the Coventry community that Dave and his team serve and support so well."

Busst said: "It was an honour and a privilege to be recognised by the PFA who I've been part of since 1992, both playing professionally and working in the community.

"They've always supported me both on and off the pitch, particularly following my injury in 1996, and this award from them for my 'community contribution and long-standing service' will be held in the highest esteem."

Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist & Coventry fan

Image source, Getty Images

As Coventry City fans are well aware by now - football can be a cruel sport.

For a third consecutive season, the Sky Blues are left thinking about what could have been after Sunderland grabbed a last-second winner with virtually the final touch of extra time.

But it is perhaps not so much the semi-final defeat itself that will play on fans' minds, and more the manner in which it has happened again.

Cast your mind back to April 2024 when Coventry came back from three goals down to force Manchester United to extra time in the FA Cup semi-final.

The Sky Blues were daring to dream when Victor Torp found the back of the net, but his winner was ruled out by VAR in extra time and they went on to lose on penalties.

At the Stadium of Light, it was Coventry who controlled the majority of the game and looked the most threatening but they just could not find a winner.

The game looked set for penalties - much to the nervousness of the 2,500 away supporters - as there was just a Sunderland corner to deal with.

In the blink of an eye, the Stadium of Light erupted and Coventry fans were left with their hands on their heads.

To put it simply... another savage ending in the Coventry storybook.

Yet there are still so many positives to take from the 2024-25 campaign and that is why fans, who will no doubt be hurting today, will also feel an immense sense of pride towards Frank Lampard's men.

Coventry took the game to the Black Cats and they left everything out on the pitch. That is all any fan could have asked from them.

Earlier we asked you what you made of Coventry's agonising late exit from the Championship play-offs at Sunderland.

Here's a selection of your views, which very much represent the vast majority, it would appear.

Matt: Heartbroken for it to end that way, but that sometimes happens in football and you have to take it on the chin. At least Frank now has a full pre-season and summer transfer window to shape the squad how he wants, and fingers crossed brings in a top-notch striker to put away so many of the chances we create. I'm sad now, and will be for a few days, but bring on the start of the new season and let's just see what happens!

John: Fair play to Sunderland. They came with a gameplan to contain Coventry and absorb the pressure. The Sky Blues in both games had more of the play and had plenty of chances but didn't put them away. They have no-one to blame but themselves. As for conceding at the death, it's happened a lot this season and they need to learn lessons.

Davey: Very much in Frank Lampard we trust. Two points off relegation when he came in and top three form since he took over. Give us an effective transfer window and we can be up there again next season.

Lawrence: Very proud of our City and our team. We've had an outstanding season, so let's have no complaints. Frank is building for the future so let's see what we get next year.

Patrick: I am delighted and filled with excitement for the future of the football club. As heartbreaking as yesterday was, I firmly believe that next year will be our year. City to win the Championship 25-26.

Mark: It was a tough season but we got to our expected position in the end. To lose to the very final touch of a game we dominated was typical of the season. Hopefully more experience gained for the hard-working young players. But desperate disappointment for the amazing supporters. Another rebuild in the summer and then into battle in an even more competitive division!

Dale: They played really well over both games and didn't deserve to lose. Hopefully they will be better next season.

Chris D: Phenomenal effort from 10 of the starting 11 and the subs too. Haji Wright cost us Wembley. Just hoping Frank and his team stay long term and go for it again next season.

Chris F: Heartbreaking and felt we were the better team over both legs and to lose in that manner was shattering. All the best to Sunderland in the final.

John: It's a shame we went out after so much possession and shots on goal but we needed the forwards to show better aggression and motivation which just did not happen but good luck to Sunderland.

Samantha: Absolutely gutted but what a season we've had under Frank Lampard. We go again next season hopefully some new signings. Proud to be Sky Blue.

Adrian: Football is cruel and over the two legs Coventry were by far the better team. If Sunderland play like that in the final we will definitely be playing them next season.

Jack: Heartbroken, thought we were the better side for 120 minutes. But Frank Lampard has done magnificently, bring on next season Sky Blue Army.

Well have you ever seen anything like that?

Dan Ballard's mid-air crouch to head home via the underside of the bar and send Sunderland to Wembley with virtually the final touch of extra time.

Black Cats fans, have you ever heard the Stadium of Light like that? Can you now go on to beat Sheffield United?

Sorry Sky Blues fans, where does this latest heartbreak rank in your club's top-10 of misery? Do you think City can bounce back next season?

Come back to this page later to find out what some of you had to say...