Lampard urges Sky Blues to 'not drop heads'

Defeat was only a third at home against Championship opposition for Frank Lampard with Coventry

Coventry City manager Frank Lampard is urging his players to "not drop their heads" after a late defeat in the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final with Sunderland.

The Sky Blues were drawing until Milan van Ewijk's short backpass was punished by Eliezer Mayenda's cool finish in the 88th minute.

Now Coventry must come from behind at the Stadium of Light in the second leg to get to Wembley.

Van Ewijk was in tears after the final whistle but Lampard knows his players must quickly regroup.

"I'm proud of the players," he told BBC CWR.

"We obviously didn't get the result we deserved and we didn't deserve to lose, but we can't drop our heads and understand there's loads to play for."

Coventry had almost 75% of possession at the CBS Arena, but they struggled to make clear cut chances.

However, the manager was still pleased with his side's efforts and believes the tie can be turned around.

"It was a good performance," he said. "I don't need to dwell on the mistakes too much but the performance was good.

"We couldn't break the deadlock because they defended their box so well but we did everything we could for large parts of the game without maybe that little end bit.

"It didn't happen and so we go again. The game may look different on Tuesday and it may feel different at their stadium whether they play the same way."