STEVEN PRESSLEY has signed a new four-year contract at Coventry City that ties him to the club until the summer of 2018.

Pressley, who left Falkirk to take charge at Coventry in March last year, was under contract until the summer of 2016. But Coventry's chief executive Steve Waggott had made securing the long-term future of the former Scotland, Celtic and Rangers centre-half a priority.

Pressley, whose assistant Neil McFarlane and under-21 coach Darren Murray have also signed new deals, was eager to sign in another major boost for the club following their return to the Ricoh Arena last week after a season in exile in Northampton.

He said: "I have always felt that there is huge potential for Coventry City. We've only just begun to scratch the surface in the 18 months that we have been here and I look forward to continuing the job we've started.

"I was so proud to lead the club out at the Ricoh Arena on Friday night against Gillingham and it brought home to everyone just how much Coventry City Football Club means to the people and the community of Coventry. I am delighted that Neil and Darren have also signed new contracts too and I now have the opportunity, with them and all of the staff here, to deliver the success that the city has been starved of for so long and thoroughly deserves.

"There's been a decline over the last 15 years and it doesn't change overnight and everyone has to understand that. That's not me running away from any level of responsibility - it's me being realistic. But I am truly determined to be the one to move us in the right direction."

Waggott was delighted to bring a successful conclusion to the talks with Pressley and he said: "In Steven, we have a manager whose long-term vision absolutely mirrors that of the football club. We've seen over the past 18 months the positive impact the players from our academy have had as they have come into the first team and we want to very much continue and expand that model."