The Sky Blues fell to defeat in their final pre-season game against West Bromwich Albion in the inaugural Cyrille Regis Memorial Trophy.
Reise Allassani and Jordon Thompson scored their first goals in pre-season, whilst Harvey Barnes and Hal Robson-Kanu collected braces for the Baggies.
Jake Livermore also got on the scoresheet and it was the Baggies therefore who were the first to be awarded the Regis Shield.
The friendly was a commemorative occasion in tribute to the life of the Sky Blue and West Brom legend who was an inspirational icon both on and off the pitch.
He played 238 games and scored 47 goals for the Sky Blues and was part of the 1987 FA Cup winning team.
Before that, he scored 112 goals in 302 appearances for the Baggies between 1977 and 1984.
The fixture was Mark Robins’ squad’s concluding summer run-out ahead of the 2018/19 campaign which kicks off against Scunthorpe United.
There were four changes from the team that faced Derby County with Rod McDonald, Reice Allassani, Callum Maycock and Jonson Clarke-Harris replacing Tom Davies, Zain Westbrooke, Tony Andreu and Max Biamou respectively.
Barnes scored twice inside eight minutes in his first start for the Baggies, and Robson-Kanu matched the young midfielder with goals either side of a Jonson Clarke-Harris chance.
The Sky Blues frontman was inches away from reducing the deficit after Jordan Ponticelli’s through ball fell perfectly into his path.
Allassani pulled one back for City with a wonderful curled finish beyond the reach of Sam Johnstone into the top right-hand corner.
The game began to calm down following Livermore’s early second-half strike, but Tom Bayliss crossed sensationally to find Jordan Thompson lurking in the middle of the penalty area to head home.
Dujon Sterling and Tom Bayliss made promising impacts on their return from England U19 duty.
Goals: Barnes (6’, 8’), Robson-Kanu (31’, 40’), Allassani (44’) Livermore (52’), Thompson (78’)
Attendance: 7,590
Coventry City XI: O’Brien (GK) (Burge [45’]), Grimmer (Thompson [59’]), McDonald (Willis [71’]), Hyam (Davies [45’]), Brown (Mason [45’]), Maycock (Sterling [59’]), Doyle (C) (Ogogo [66’]), Allassani, Ponticelli (Bayliss [45’]), Shipley (Andreu [45’]), Clarke-Harris (Biamou [45’]).
Subs: Burge (GK), Davies, Mason, Thompson, Willis, Sterling, Ogogo, Andreu, Bayliss, Biamou.
West Bromwich Albion XI: Johnstone (GK), Cranie, Bartley, Hegazi, Gibbs, Brunt, Morrison, Livermore, Phillips, Barnes, Robson-Kanu.
Subs: Bond (GK), Harper, Fitzwater, Leko, Rondon, Rodriguez, Edwards, Burke Wilson, Barry.