Coventry City are preparing for a second consecutive season in the Championship after producing some spirited performances to stay away from the relegation zone in the final weeks of the 2020/21 season.

The Sky Blues were promoted to the second tier as League One champions last year, and investments were made to make sure Mark Robins had a strengthened squad ahead of the campaign.

The likes of Gustavo Hamer and Tyler Walker arrived for transfer fees and made significant contributions to Coventry's survival, and Callum O'Hare made his loan deal from Aston Villa permanent and also played an influential role.

Coventry finished in 16th position in the end but the foundations are there for the club to push on next season - a move back to the city and the Ricoh Arena will revitalise the fanbase but they will definitely need to make some more squad additions.

Let's look at nine soon-to-be free agents who the Sky Blues should be targeting ahead of the new campaign.

The time in-between the sticks at St Andrew's this past season was split between Marko Marosi and Ben Wilson, and in truth neither man is probably good enough to be a first-choice stopper for a top half Championship club.

That is why Coventry should look to upgrade and there's a perfect candidate for the role who is about to be out of contract in the form of Christian Walton.

The 25-year-old has had multiple spells on loan in the EFL at the likes of Luton, Wigan Athletic and Blackburn - the latter two clubs playing in the Championship so the imposing 6 ft 5 in figure of Walton certainly has experience.

It's probably time to move on from the Seagulls now though and that's what he's set to do, and even though there's a few Championship clubs who will probably be looking for a new stopper this summer he could fit in very well at the Ricoh Arena.

After a seven-year association with Sheffield Wednesday, Lees has departed Hillsborough after the club decided not to renew his and other senior player's deals following relegation to League One.

Lees has been solid in the Championship for years and has always been a regular at the Owls aside from injuries, and he'll probably have a few clubs in the second tier looking at signing him this summer.

But a move to Coventry may be more attractive than most - they're clearly a club on the up and if Mark Robins can't persuade Brighton to loan them Leo Ostigard again next season then there's a gap opened up in his three centre-back system.

And being from Birmingham, Lees may fancy a move closer to home for the next few seasons whilst he can still play at Championship standard.

Another 30-year-old from the Midlands here and former Aston Villa man Baker has had a rough time of things recently.

Baker made just three appearances for Bristol City last season after he battled with injuries for the duration of the campaign, but the 2019/20 season saw little hiccups as he played 34 Championship games.

If he can prove that his injury struggles are behind him then Baker would add some experience to the back-line and being left footed, he can slot in on the left side of a Sky Blues back three - he wouldn't provide that much mobility but he is a physical presence and on his day he's a really solid Championship centre-half.

Yet another player who was raised in the Midlands and who may fancy a move back closer to home, Bell has recently been released by fellow Championship outfit Blackburn Rovers, three-and-a-half years after joining from Fleetwood Town.

The 27-year-old was a regular in the 2018-19 campaign however this past season he lost his place in the team to experienced loanee Barry Douglas, so he was restricted to just 16 league outings.

Nevertheless Bell is perfectly capable of being a good Championship wing-back and the left-sided area for that position is somewhat a cause for concern.

Sam McCallum's loan has ended and even though it's possible Norwich could let him out to the Sky Blues again, they may fancy a more permanent option in that area and Bell could fit the bill.

An alternative to Bell in the left-wing-back area - or perhaps competition - is Ferguson, who has left Millwall after a five-year spell at the Lions.

Having gained 47 caps for Northern Ireland, Ferguson is a man with a lot of experience and know-how, and also versatility as he's equally adept at left-back as he is on the wing.

That's why he may fit perfectly at left-wing-back - he couldn't get in Millwall's team this season ahead of Scott Malone however the previous four years he started plenty of games, and at 29 years of age there's no way he's lost his legs just yet.

There was once upon a time where Crowley was one of the most exciting youth players at one of the big English clubs, having been poached from Aston Villa by Arsenal as a 15-year-old, with Arsene Wenger the man who pushed for the deal.

Crowley never was able to live up to the early hype though - he showed promise over in Holland at Willem II two years ago and then moved back to these shores to play for Birmingham City, but Aitor Karanka didn't fancy using him last season and he spent the second half of the campaign at Hull City in League One.

Now a free agent, Crowley will be looking to prove a point and considering he's still only a 23-year-old, he could be a decent option to bring in and try and get the best out of in midfield.

Let's not forget he's Coventry born and bred as well, so he'd no doubt be a fan favourite.

Robins will definitely be searching for a bit more creativity going forward and even though he is now 32 years old, Aluko definitely still has the ability in him to have at least one more season at Championship level.

He's not prolific by any stretch of the imagination, even for an attacking midfielder or a winger, but Aluko does provide creativity and he was able to appear 33 times last season for a Reading team that almost got into the play-offs - albeit a lot of those were off the bench.

Aluko could be a good player for someone like Callum O'Hare to learn from as well, so he would have his uses other than on the pitch on a matchday - a mid-table Championship team is probably his level in 2021 anyway.

After being placed on the released list by West Bromwich Albion, Edwards is likely to be picked up by a Championship team and there's every chance he could make the short move to the Sky Blues.

Edwards has been a previous Mark Robins target when he tried to acquire the attacking midfielder/winger on loan in January 2019, but a move failed to materialise.

He played 26 times the following season in the Championship, scoring twice but he was sparingly used in the Premier League this past season, his last league outing coming back in November.

Coventry could be a really good landing spot for the 23-year-old as he looks to climb the ladder once again after being let go from a club that he's been at since the age of six.

This may seem like a wild suggestion to some, but it isn't - Niasse joined a relegation-threatened Championship team this past season so why wouldn't he join one that was in the middle of the pack?

A lot was said by Everton fans about the Senegal striker's technical ability when he played for the Toffees but he did have one season where he netted eight times in 22 games - but the seasons before and after he rarely featured.

He joined Huddersfield in late March however got injured before he could play a game, and it ruled him out for the remainder of the season.

Now a free agent again, Niasse could potentially bolster a strike-force that has lost Max Biamou and Amadou Bakayoko and could give Tyler Walker and Matty Godden some new competition.