Coventry City pre-season news from CoventryLive as we look at what lies ahead for the Sky Blues who report back for duty on Monday (July 1) for a six-week run into the new Championship campaign
Monday morning (July 1)
All of City’s existing squad – bar three – and four new signings are expected to report for duty to undergo a series of fitness and strength tests under the watchful eye of Head of Sports Science, Adam Hearn, and his staff. Haji Wright, Kasey Palmer and Joel Latibeadiere will not be there due to currently competing in the Copa America with the USA and Jamaica where they are coming to the end of the group stages of the competition that includes Argentina and Brazil.
All of the players will have had individual fitness programmes to follow over the summer months and most, if not all these days, tend to sign up with professional fitness companies or personal trainers during their time off to ensure they turn up and are able to hit the ground running. Gone are the days of players pitching up and starting from scratch, using the pre-season to sweat off any weight increase from summer excesses.
Training camp abroad
The Sky Blues will be heading off in the next couple of weeks to a different training location, as has become an annual trip to either Spain or Portugal for a guaranteed warm weather camp. The week-long stay enables the players to bond, which is particularly important for the new signings who have the chance to really get to know their new teammates while living 24/7 in a hotel together.
There will be plenty of hard work with early morning and afternoon fitness and game sessions, with social events thrown in, including the obligatory Karaoke initiation for the new players.
It’s expected that City will play their first pre-season friendly game at the end of the week – a low key behind-closed-doors match against as yet unknown opposition.
Back home
Stevenage (A)
City’s first scheduled domestic warm-up game is a trip to League One Stevenage on Tuesday, July 23 (7pm) at the Lamex Stadium. It’s not clear at this stage whether Mark Robins will add another fixture in before that. But if there is another added, it’s likely to be an away game.
SV Darmstadt 98 (A)
Next up will be a flight out to Germany to take on a team who were relegated from the Bundesliga last season. The Sky Blue Army are invited to the Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor, Darmstadt, on Saturday, July 27, for what is expected to be an early afternoon kick-off. Ticket details are yet to be announced, but up to 1,000 fans are expected to make the journey, with many having already booked flights and hotel accommodation.
Everton (H)
This year sees a welcome return to pre-season fixtures at the CBS Arena, beginning with a high-profile clash with Premier League opposition and an opportunity to test City’s mettle. The game takes place on Tuesday, July 30 with kick-off at 7.45pm.
SV Werder Bremen (H)
And finally, Robins’ men will host four-time German champions Werder Bremen on Saturday, August 3 with the game to kick-off at 3pm at the CBS Arena. The visitors finished ninth in the Bundesliga last season and just missed out on European football on goal difference, so will provide a really stern test for the Sky Blues who should be in tip-top shape by then, with just a week to go until the season starts at Stoke City.
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