One down – forty five to go.

If Coventry City had wondered what life would be like outside the Premiership, they could not have wished for a more fitting first game.

Stockport, a side filled with free transfers and bargain buys, pushed the Sky Blues for the whole 90 minutes but Coventry’s class and, above all else, determination saw them make the perfect Nationwide League start.

Strachan was confident he had prepared his side well but will have gone into the game not knowing if they had buried the ghosts of last season. It was clear they had.

The manager opted to play Jay Bothroyd alongside new man Lee Hughes and made Roland Nilsson captain for the day but that apart, the side was as expected.

The home side threw everything at Coventry during the early exchanges without ever really testing Chris Kirkland. Karim Fadin sent a 25 yard free kick just over the bar after Mo Konjic had been penalised.

Slowly the Stockport storm began to blow itself out as Coventry began to find Hughes with increasingly regularity. He tested Lee Jones with a dipping shot after 18 minutes and embarked on one twisting run which was only stopped as he teed up a shot.

The breakthrough came just short of the half hour and was vintage Hughes. Youssef Chippo put in a cross from the right which fell to Konjic, he returned it with pace and Hughes was on hand to direct his shot past Jones.

Coventry were firmly in control and while Stockport occasionally threatened, they rarely looked capable of breaking City’s defence.

Bothroyd should have sealed the game before the interval when the impressively busy David Thompson picked him out at the far post, but the youngster headed wide.

Konjic, making a rare start, was again struck down when he pulled a hamstring just before half time and had to be replaced by Richard Shaw.

The second half rarely flowed as referee Paul Danson made several characteristically bizarre decisions. He was forced to wield his card to keep control after letting several tetchy challenges go.

City needed a second goal to make sure of a comfortable victory and it came from Lee Carsley with 15 minutes remaining. Thompson’s second corner in a minute landed in the heart of the home area, and Carsley was there to head home from close range.

It could have been even better. In the final moments, Bothroyd teed up Hughes only for his measured shot to strike the woodwork and bounce out.

Strachan will be relieved as well as delighted to have successfully jumped the first hurdle and stepped successfully into the unknown.

STOCKPORT COUNTY: Jones; Woodthorpe, Roget, Clare; Gibb, Fradin, Helin, Clark; Taylor (Hurst, 53); Wilbraham, Kuqi
Subs not used: Dibble, Bryngelsson, Smith, Hardy

COVENTRY CITY: Kirkland; Nilsson, Williams, Konjic (Shaw, 45), Hall; Thompson, Carsley, Chippo, O’Neill; Hughes, Bothroyd
Subs not used: Hedman, Quinn, Martinez, Strachan

GOALS:
Coventry - Hughes (29), Carsley (75)

REFEREE: PS Danson (Leicester)

BOOKINGS:
Stockport – Gibb (foul, 37), Clark (foul, 55), Wilbraham (foul, 67)
Coventry – Carsley (foul, 10), Hall (foul, 67), O’Neill (foul, 70)

ATTENDANCE: 9,329.