Frank Lampard welcomes a huge win as Coventry find their old form as they attempt to sink Championship promotion rivals Middlesbrough. soccer news

​​​​​​​It may have been just another three points, but in the context of this season it was a huge win for Coventry City and Frank Lampard.

They fell to the top of the table, having once seemed almost unassailable, and faced a poor team in the Championship at Middlesbrough. It was the team that won the league with six wins.

“Any question marks about Coventry’s character were answered emphatically tonight,” he said. Sky Sports’ Andy Hinchcliffe.

It felt that big. Both the performance and the results are the same. There is diligence in defense and clinical edge in attack. Hodge Wright’s ruthless hat-trick led to a 3-1 win.

Lampard always wants to stay on the pitch. Even when Coventry were leading the league, he was never swept away.

But you could see in his eyes after the game how big this was.

“This is a tremendous performance by young people,” he said. sky sports. “Middlesbrough have done what they have done recently because they are a good team.

“It was a real team performance. The effort, tactical discipline and the way we played with the ball was something we worked on all week and I felt it was important to apply that back to our game.

“In the first half we tried to press very high and be very aggressive and the players followed that plan brilliantly. We felt our energy would still be strong in the second half so we went in a bit more compact and caused them problems. I am really pleased.

“There’s been a bit of a nervous energy around the club lately because we haven’t been in this position lately. Maybe that’s normal, maybe we need a bit of an overhaul. “The fans are a big weapon for us when we play here on CBS. They were so loud and amazing tonight.

“But as long as we respond that way, with that energy and output, that’s what matters. I’m happy for the lads.”

Lampard admitted, however, that it was just one win. There are still 14 games left and the next two away games are away. Coventry’s performance was poor. The game against Middlesbrough could provide a new blueprint on the road.

“We cannot celebrate excessively,” he added. “It’s the championship. If we fail in the next game, this game won’t really matter. That was the message after the game.

“The defensive structure tonight is the template you need to win in this league. Every team brings different problems and now we have to get that right when we leave home.

“It was important and now we have to build on that. I felt something different in training this week. There was a bit more edge and more tension. I like that. The players were on their feet and training was intense. We may have lost that edge a little bit over the course of a lot of games, but we found it again this week.

“The key now is to continue to bring that to the league. We respect our opponents, but we have to use this performance as a platform.

“It was difficult to adapt to our away form and different styles. Some teams are physical and direct, so you have to deal with the second ball and cross into the box.

“We’ve been looking at ourselves recently and saying we’ve fallen short in certain games, but I haven’t said that about this group in a long time, so when the next game comes as quickly as it did at West Brom, we can’t ride this wave for too long.

“We gained confidence from tonight. Energy, output, hard work. That’s what makes offensive players shine. Effort underpins everything.”

Boyd: Mature Coventry Performance

Sky Sports’ chris boyd:

“Frank (Lampard) mentioned that they changed their training this week because they knew (Middlesbrough’s attack) was coming.

“There’s no doubt that Middlesbrough’s attack has caused a lot of problems for a lot of teams in this division. They had to change and it worked.

“Wright also scored three goals and now he (Lampard) can say ‘if we do it right we can still create chances and score goals’.”

“It was a really mature performance from Coventry.”

‘It was like watching Coventry at the beginning of the season.’

Sky Sports’ Joby McAnuff:

“The risk was too high for Coventry. I felt they had a bigger advantage than Boro in terms of getting some positivity back before the game.

“We can feel it here on the pitch. The crowd went with their team and played a big role. The team was brave and their pressing was very important and lasted for 90 minutes.

“That’s the same Coventry team we’ve seen earlier in the season tonight.”