JULIAN Gray proved to be Barnsley's nemesis once again as his second-half winner in today Coca-Cola Championship clash gave Coventry their best start to a season since 1992.

The winger scored in both victories over the Tykes last season, and was once again the match winner in an entertaining encounter at Oakwell.

The Sky Blues, who kept up their 100% record to this season with three victories, found themselves in front against the run of play in the 11th minute - when Freddy Eastwood fired a cross in from the right which evaded everyone and nestled into the bottom corner.

It was Eastwood's first goal for almost a year, the last coming against Blackpool on August 25, and it gave his side a surprise lead in South Yorkshire.

Brian Howard's clinical finish on the stroke of half-time earned the hosts a deserved equaliser. But Gray's 68th-minute strike and Iain Hume's red card made for a miserable second half for the Reds, who have now lost three games on the spin.

COVENTRY CITY are only two matches into the new campaign but the competition for frontline places is already boiling up.

And that suits manager Chris Coleman down to the ground as he works to create a "cut-throat" culture at the Ricoh Arena.

"In football you often hear people talking about a good dressing room," he explained. "I've said it myself and that's important, but proper team spirit doesn't come from having a jolly boys' day out - it comes from doing things the right way, preparing properly and winning games.

"I don't want a big happy family that's losing every week, I want to win games. To do that you need an edge - and if that means you get a cut-throat atmosphere, I'm happy with that."

CHRIS Coleman was licking his lips at the prospects of taking on his former Fulham boss Kevin Keegan in the second round of the Carling Cup.

Coleman's Coventry side comfortably saw off Football League new boys Aldershot with Robbie Simpson scoring twice and Clinton Morrison opening his account for his new club.

A delighted Coleman said: "We had nearly 10,000 in the ground and that was on the back of a big crowd for the game against Norwich at the weekend.

"Our fans have dipped their hands in their pockets twice in a week and the reward is a massive draw against Newcastle.

"I had two good years under Kevin at Fulham. He signed me from Blackburn and in our first season we lost in the play-offs and then won the league the year after by a country mile."

COVENTRY cruised into the Carling Cup second round with a comfortable victory over Aldershot.

Clinton Morrison's first goal for the Sky Blues opened the scoring just after the half-hour mark, only for Marvin Morgan's 25-yard deflected free-kick to draw the League Two side level shortly after.

Chris Coleman's outfit turned on the style after the break and Robbie Simpson converted Daniel Fox's outswinging corner before grabbing his second seven minutes later with a neat finish from 18 yards.

UNSETTLED Coventry City striker Michael Mifsud will be thrown into the fray and the Sky Blues' attack for tonight's Carling Cup tie against Aldershot with manager Chris Coleman juggling an injury nightmare.

The Maltese international has been called upon despite the fact just a fortnight ago he was bound for Bristol City in a £1.5 million move. That transfer fell through at the final hurdle and Mifsud will now come in to bolster a squad struggling without injured forwards Leon Best, Jay Tabb, Leon McKenzie and Kevin Thornton.

Mifsud will play on the left with Robbie Simpson on the right of a four-man attack that also includes summer recruits Clinton Morrison and Freddy Eastwood.

And young goalkeeper Danny Ireland will make his competitive debut because Kieren Westwood has picked up a minor injury in training and veteran Andy Marshall is not match-fit.

GOALKEEPER Danny Ireland will be pitched into his Sky Blues debut against scalp-hunting Aldershot tonight.

The teenage Australian - he doesn't turn 18 until next month - gets his chance because summer recruit Kieren Westwood has tweaked his thigh and veteran Andy Marshall is still short of match fitness.

CHRIS COLEMAN today backed new boys strikers Freddy Eastwood and Clinton Morrison to quickly prove their class.

The two strikers - who were both pursued so relentlessly by the Sky Blues during the summer, both made subdued debuts on Saturday in the win against Norwich.

But Coleman is sure the pair will soon find their feet.

THOUGHTFUL, quietly-spoken, a touch on the shy side - Scott Dann doesn't come close to the stereotypical image of a Liverpudlian footballer.

But the centre-half fits the tradition perfectly on the pitch which is why, at the age of 21, he has been handed the captain's armband by Sky Blues boss Chris Coleman.

Dann, snapped up in January with Walsall team-mate Danny Fox, admits the decision came as a surprise - but he is more than happy to accept the responsibility at this tender stage of his thus far hugely-promising career.

CHRIS COLEMAN completed his summer rebuilding programme on Friday when Stephen Wright signed a two-year deal.

The 28-year-old full-back, who has played a full part in the Sky Blues' pre-season programme, is Coleman's sixth summer signing - and he can't wait to start the next phase of a career that has taken in spells at Liverpool, Crewe, Sunderland and Stoke.

"It's good to get everything done and dusted," said Wright.

FORGET Freddy Eastwood and Clinton Morrison, Leon McKenzie believes he can be a new striking sensation for Coventry boss Chris Coleman.

McKenzie, 30, has been a Sky Blue for two years but hasn't had a whiff of competitive action under the current man in charge at the Ricoh Arena.

That's because a ruptured thigh ended the ex-Norwich City goal-getter's 2007/08 campaign in December after just 11 appearances and two goals.

So McKenzie has cut a frustrated figure on the sidelines since Coleman, somebody who he played alongside as a youngster at Crystal Palace, started his Sky Blues revolution.

And while all the pre-season talk has been about the arrival of Eastwood and Morrison, the form of Leon Best and the 'will-they-won't- they?' transfer sagas of Michael Mifsud and Kevin Kyle, a fit-again McKenzie has come up on the outside in the forward ranks during Cov's pre-season tours to Switzerland, Austria and Scotland.