'We expected more but it's not the end of the world'

On the latest episode of BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club, the panel discussed if there is more expectation on Coventry to perform in the Premier League than the other two promoted sides, Hull City and Ipswich Town.

“In pre-season, everyone said Coventry were most likely to stay up and I understand that,” said Simon Lillibury, host of That Cov Pod. “[But] we’ve been out of the top flight for 25 years and we don’t know what the modern Premier League is like.

“We have spent more than we thought we’d spend, but we’re still starting from a base point where it’s a real rarity for a squad that has not been in the Premier League to win the Championship.

“From that perspective, Ipswich started at a better squad level. They’ve had the parachute payments once and invested really well.

“We expected more of ourselves, but losing our first four games is not the end of the world.

“We need to move slightly away from the team that won the Championship and find out if these new players can compete and are good enough for the league. We have spent big money on them, but I think six of them were on the bench [against Brighton].”

Listen to the full episode of Monday Night Club on BBC Sounds