“The biggest difference between 2022/2023 Coventry City and last season when they missed out on the playoffs was the respective defensive records”- Don Goodman highlights weakness Coventry City must address in transfer market this summer to stand chance of Premier League promotion

Pundit Don Goodman has told Coventry City that they must make improvements in defence if Mark Robins’ side want to compete for Premier League promotion next season.

The Sky Blues have wasted no time in making sure they give themselves the best chance to compete for promotion in 2024/25, with the permanent signings of Raphael Borges Rodrigues and Luis Binks preceding the big-money acquisition of Jack Rudoni.

City have enjoyed an excellent rise up the Championship table since their promotion from League One back in 2020, coming just a penalty shoot-out away from a long-awaited top-flight return in 2022/23.

Finishing in ninth last season was perhaps seen as somewhat of a disappointing campaign, as is the expectation that has gripped the football club after getting a taste of the Championship play-offs.

But is Robins’ team good enough to win a seat among the elite of English football next season? Goodman believes there’s still an area of weakness that needs addressing first.

“The biggest difference between 2023/2023 Coventry City, when they finished fifth, and them missing out on the play-offs last season, was the respective defensive records,” he explained.

“They conceded just 46 goals in 2022/2023, which gives you a chance of finishing in the top six, whereas last season they conceded 59. That’s the difference, they made individual errors which proved costly.

“They’ve already made some impressive acquisitions but you’d suspect they’ll have to tidy up defensively. Losing Callum O’Hare will, obviously, be a blow as he’s not only a fantastic player but a great character around the squad and was popular with fans.

“But I’ve got no worries about Coventry City in forward areas and that they will score goals, it’s just defensively improvements will be needed.”

Scoring goals wasn’t the problem for Coventry City in 2023/24, with Haji Wright (16) and Ellis Simms (13) both netting double-figure returns, with both forwards having impressive seasons for the club.

But there’s one club, West Brom, who can be used as a good example as to why City weren’t able to get themselves a top-six finish last season. The Baggies – who finished fifth – scored just as many goals at the Sky Blues did last year (70), but Albion conceded just 47 times as opposed to Coventry’s 59.

Therein lies the issue that Robins and his coaching staff must address on the training ground, and indeed, the recruitment staff must get right in the transfer market this summer.

A new goalkeeper appears to be on the agenda, after the team were only able to keep 12 clean sheets last campaign – eight fewer than the previous year.

Hammarby’s Oliver Dovin looks to be the club’s priority target, with Swedish news outlet Sports Bladet reporting that the Championship side are pushing hard to sign the 22-year-old Swedish international.

Coventry are also understood to be interested in a move for Peterborough United’s flying full-back Harrison Burrows, in what could be an indication that Robins is not happy with his current left-back options, Jake Bidwell and Jay Dasilva.

But with the popular arrival of the aforementioned Binks completed, City should continue to beef up their defensive options, in what could be the final piece to the promotion jigsaw which Robins has been putting together for multiple seasons.