Coventry City won their final pre-season friendly against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park ahead of next weekend's season opener.

Coleman made six changes to the starting eleven following the goalless draw at Livingston in the week, opting to play Danny Fox and Scott Dann in defence and Freddy Eastwood and Leon Best up front. 

The Sky Blues got off to a confident start. City's first real attempt came in the eighth minute when Julian Gray, Fox and Eastwood linked up on the left only for Fox's shot to be pushed out for a corner. Two minutes later Leon Best had the ball in the back of the Killie net but the referee disallowed the goal for offside.

Kilmarnock refused to sit back and confusion between Westwood and Ward in the 13th minute could have gifted the Scottish side the lead but Ward managed to avert the danger and keep the sides level.

Best went down not long after and, erring on the side of caution, Coleman substituted the striker for Clinton Morrison.  

Kilmarnock began to come into the game and City keeper Keiren Westwood was forced into a number of saves, first punching away a looping header that looked to be dipping under the bar. The resulting corner forced Westwood into another punch around six yards out but the rebounded shot was straight at him and ended in a straight-forward collection.

City responded in the 25th minute with Eastwood and Morrison linking up twice. Eastwood's first attempt shot over the bar before Morrison fired straight at Killie keeper Damien Rascle.

The Sky Blues continued to soak up some pressure from the home side with Westwood confidently proving his worth between the sticks after a shot from Simon Ford tested the Sky Blues defence.

Just before the break, City were on the offensive again, this time with Tabb and Eastwood working together only for the resulting shot to go wide.

The deadlock was finally broken after half-time. Fox sent the ball forward to Gray who took on Kilmarnock's substitute keeper Chad Harpur. Harpur smashed into Gray who looked to be past him and the referee pointed to the spot. Ward stepped up to take the penalty and sent the keeper the wrong way, putting City ahead in the 55th minute.

The Sky Blues began to grow in confidence and just two minutes later Gray took on the Killie defence and crossed in to Robbie Simpson who shot just wide.  Gray continued to show his skill, shaking off his markers with ease, playing in Eastwood who again just missed the target.

Westwood was called into action in the 75th minute when Kilmarnock midfielder Manuel Pascali had a go on goal but the keeper's reactions protected City's lead and just ten minutes later, Gray's persistence paid off as he doubled City's tally, curling a shot in from the left past a helpless Harpur.

City played out the last minutes of the game to maintain the two-goal lead and clean sheet. The Sky Blues will now return to Coventry for their final preparations ahead of the start of the Championship season and their opener against Norwich City at the Ricoh Arena on August 9.

FULL-TIME: Kilmarnock 0 Coventry City 2

GOALS: Ward (pen) 55, Gray 81

Kilmarnock: Rascle (Harpur 45), Fowler, Wright, Pascali, O'Leary, Ford, Hamill, Fernandez, Sammon, Taouil, Bryson (SUBS NOT USED)  Lilley, Locke, Morgan, Murrey, Gibson, Skelton, Flanningan

Coventry City: Westwood, Fox, Dann, Ward, Wright, Gray, Tabb, Beuzelin, Simpson; Eastwood (Thornton 82), Best (Morrison 13) (SUBS NOT USED) Ireland, Turner, McKenzie, Hall, Borrowdale, Kyle

Att: 2,168