Wrexham 1
Coventry City 1
The Sky Blues squad had a solid workout in a 1-1 draw against Wrexham.
The hosts had led through Marc Williams' tap-in in the 25th minute, but Jermaine Grandison's towering header in the second half levelled.
Chris Coleman named a side mixing both experience and youth for the Sky Blues and handed James McPake the captain's armband.
The opening exchanges were sloppy with both sides struggling to settle down. Wrexham were the first side to string together some passing moves, and in the third minute McPake did well to block a shot from Marc Williams from close range.
City were moving the ball down the left-hand side through Marcus Hall and Danny Fox - but struggled to carve out a chance. Instead, Wrexham came close to opening the score when Williams hit a testing shot from 25-yards, but Dimi Konstantopolous pulled over a fine diving save.
But Konstantopolous was soon in trouble in the 25th minute after he tried to drag a loose ball back into his area. He tried to pick the ball up Neil Taylor robbed him of possession and squared the ball to Williams to tap into the empty net.
City then suffered another blow when Curtis Wynter was taken off on a stretcher after appearing to fall awkwardly. After a delay in play, he was replaced by Jordan Clarke.
City had a couple of half chances when Clinton Morrison's good work led to a Michael Doyle shot, but the effort went high.
In the 35th minute, after Leon Best replaced Freddy Eastwood, the Sky Blues came close with a trademark Danny Fox free-kick. His strike from 30-yards tested goalkeeper Chris Maxwell, but he saved well to push away for a corner.
Williams had a chance to score his second goal in the 41st minute when he latched onto Neil Taylor's through-ball, although his tame shot was easy for Konstantopolous to gather.
Both sides made wholesale changes at the break, with Wrexham switching all outfield players and the Sky Blues bringing on Keiren Westwood for Dimi, Elliott Ward and Grandison for Turner and McPake, Stephen Wright for Hall, David Bell for Ashley Cain, and Aron Gunnarsson and Adam Walker for Isaac Osbourne and Michael Doyle. Wright took over the captain's armband.
The new players again needed time to settle into the game. Wrexham were the first to challenge, with a 20-yard free-kick drive from Wes Baynes forcing Westwood into an excellent block.
City then had their best spell of the match. Morrison broke through on goal in the 59th minute but hesitated in his run, before smashing a shot just wide.
Last year's leading scorer then used excellent hold-up play in the area to suck in Wrexham's defence, before finding Gunnarsson eight-yards out. He hit a good low shot, but Maxwell blocked.
City finally got a breakthrough when Fox whipped in a dangerous corner, which Grandison headed into the top left-hand corner.
Chris Coleman took advantage of the rolling substitutes to re-introduce Eastwood for Morrison and Cain for Fox.
The hosts could have gone back ahead when a quick free-kick caught out the City defence and put Baynes through on goal. He chipped the ball over Westwood, but Wright cleared on the line with a header.
The game's tempo slowed for a period with attacks for both teams breaking down at the crucial moment.
In the final ten minutes the game came to life again and in the 82nd minute Baynes had another free-kick saved by Westwood.
City then went down the other end of the field and forced a corner. Bell's kick was met by Grandison again but Wrexham defended well to clear.
The Sky Blues could have won the game in the 87th minute when a Gunnarsson pass to Cain put him through on goal on the left, but as he approached the goalkeeper he tried to square the ball to Bell and Wrexham's defenders hacked the ball clear.
Coventry: Konstantopolous (Westwood 46); Wynter (Clarke 26), Turner (Ward 46), McPake (Grandison 46), Hall (Wright 46); Cain (Bell 46), Doyle (Gunnarsson 46), Osbourne (Walker 46), Fox (Cain 65); Morrison (Eastwood 62), Eastwood (Best 35)
