It’s been quite pleasant to pause for breath after a hectic transfer window and the inevitable mixed start to the season, but after the win at Coventry I think that most of us can’t wait to see City in action again.

I said at the start of the season that a transfer window can’t really be judged until it’s over, but I think that now that it is, most fans would agree Ben Knapper and his team have done a good job.

It was inevitable that at least one star player would go, with Gabby Sara being the most likely, and so it proved, but for a good fee which removed any pressure on City to sell anyone else.

That, of course, changed when Adam Idah, Jonathan Rowe and then Abu Kamara forced the club into making a choice between retaining unhappy players or cashing in on the interest in them, which was something of a no-brainer, but the prices obtained allowed a greater overhauling of the squad than had been anticipated.

In terms of incomings, it’s still too early to make definitive judgments, although Callum Doyle has already been taken to the hearts of fans due to his quality on the ball and ability to engage beast mode in physical matches.

I thought that he and Shane Duffy were outstanding at Coventry, with the Irishman continuing to shake off his poor start to the season.

Ben Chrisene has also improved game by game, and although Ante Crnac and Amankwah Forson still need to adjust to the pace and physicality of Championship football they have both shown some promise.

However, the biggest initial impact, after that of Doyle is that of Oscar Schwartau and Amis Ben Slimane, who transformed the game at Coventry when they were introduced at half-time.

What stood out for me was the fact that they were both strong in the tackle but also very comfortable on the ball as well as showing great athleticism, and in a midfield which is required to be highly fluid in the system employed by Johannes Hoff Thorup those are key qualities.

That fluidity means that the long-standing clamour from some City fans for another Ollie Skipp-type player is no longer relevant as the new system requires midfielders to interchange on a regular basis, and with the addition of Schwartau and Slimane to Kenny McLean, Marcelino Nunez and Liam Gibbs Thorup now has a range of players who are both good on the ball and able to break up opponents' attacks.

Midfield performances had been improving in previous games, but at Coventry, after a first half littered with errors, everything seemed to click after the half-time changes and the quality of City’s passing and movement was too much for the Sky Blues to handle.

Clearly there is a need to convert domination of possession into more chances and goals, but that will surely come as Thorup spends more time with his squad.

With Ashley Barnes, Christian Fassnacht and Jacob Sorensen to return to fitness, and marquee signing Jose Cordoba still to start a league game due to the form of Doyle and Chrisene on the left of City’s defence, the squad depth is actually much better than fans could have hoped  for at the start of the season.

However, having got that first win, it’s important that Thorup’s men now kick on and build on it.

The lengthy mutual applause between the away end and the players and coaches at the end of the game at Coventry illustrated the way that fans have embraced Thorup and his style and there is a lot of positivity around the club.

That could be enhanced further today, but I think that it’s important to accept that progress isn’t always a steady upward curve. However, with favourable reports on players injured on international duty, City should be raring to go.