Sky Blues defender, Sam McCallum told how he wants to fight for a first-team place in Mark Robins squad next season, following City’s 1-1 draw with Telford on Saturday.
The 18-year-old but believes he is ready to challenge for a starting berth when City take on Southend United on the opening day of the season.
The left-back made eight first-team appearances last season and admitted his chance came sooner than he expected.
He said: “I’m hoping to fight for that starting left-back position for the first game of the season, and from then on just hopefully get some appearances under my belt.
“I’m very proud of that [making eight first-team appearances], I didn’t expect it and I don’t think anyone in the club did, to be fair, so I’m very happy with that.”
The teenager starred as a Sky Blues XI were held to a 1-1 draw against National League North side Telford, providing the assist for City’s goal.
Coming up against Telford, McCallum reminisced on his time back in non-league football, having previously played for Herne Bay in 2017-18.
“It was definitely hard.
“Coming back to non-league football, I’ve missed it, all the tackles go flying in and they’re wanting the ball every second of the game.
“I’m quite happy with the assist to be honest.
“We all deserved credit for the goal though because we’ve worked it from the back, and we’ve gone through and counter attacked and beat them to it.
The youngster has enjoyed an exciting summer, having gone away with the first-team squad on their pre-season training camp in Alicante earlier this month, and he admitted it was a tough but enjoyable experience.
“Yeah, it was very hot out there, it got to about 35 degrees.
“It’s a tough one as it’s my first ful pre-season as a professional so it has been very hard.
“Obviously, going away was a good experience but it was just very hard and very tough on the legs.”