Coventry City will face competition if they want to sign Southend striker Lee Barnard.
The Sky Blues made a bid in the close season for the 25 year old who is out of contract at Roots Hall at the end of the season. However, Millwall and Colchester United have also been linked to the striker.
Southend Chairman Ron Martin said to The Pink Un: "We would prefer Lee to stay and hope he feels similarly. "Lee fits in and is well liked at Southend. I'm prepared to give him a much improved contract to encourage him to remain part of our longer-term plan. We have been talking for a few months now and we can only hope that Lee's agent is on side."