Coventry City

Leeds United, Sunderland, Coventry City and Swansea City are all tracking Oxford United midfielder Tyler Goodrham. (Football Insider), external

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Image source, Rex Features

Coventry City head coach Frank Lampard was pleased with the 'character' his side showed in Saturday's hard-fought 1-0 home win over Bristol City.

"It was a very good result to get," Lampard told BBC CWR.

"I am very pleased with the mentality and character of the team.

"We are missing some bodies, but players are coming in and doing their job.

"We had to fight to get the clean sheet and we got a goal we deserved through the pressure we put on them.

"It was a real moment of quality from Brandon Thomas-Asante," said the Sky Blues boss.

"It wasn't a beautiful game. There was some good stuff, but some moments of turnovers, misplaced partners and bad decisions in there as well.

"I was happy how we managed the game towards the end so I can't complain. There were some real work ethics hidden in the performance too."

After moving up to 14th in the table, City now face a tough trip to Sky Blues old boy John Eustace's Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday night - nine points shy of the play-off places and six points clear of trouble,

Listen to Lampard's full interview on BBC Sounds

Rob Gurney
Sports editor, BBC CWR

Image source, Rex Features

We are exactly halfway through the transfer window, and so far, there are no incomings or outgoings in CV6.

Coventry head coach Frank Lampard has again spoken about the size of his squad, saying, "It isn't huge, and we need players to play well, stay fit and compete well."

This indicates he wants to add to what owner/chairman Doug King mistakenly called a "top six deck" at the now-infamous post-Mark Robins-sacking fans' forum.

Leadership, or lack of it on the field, remains an issue, and, in Lampard's own words, they are missing some big players.

Haji Wright is not especially close to a return, by the sounds of it, and the fact he remains this season's top scorer with seven goals, having not played since 9 November, tells you plenty.

Ephron Mason-Clark, who was bang in form when he was injured on Boxing Day, is not likely to be around for a couple more weeks either, increasing everybody's frustrations about a season of potentially lost opportunities.

Lampard's apparent dismissal of interest in Brandon Thomas-Asante is another hint that he wants to add, rather than subtract, bodies from his group.

Not too much should be read into 33-year-old Coventry-born forward Jamie Paterson training with The Sky Blues, with Lampard stating he was just training with them while he was without a club.

Recalling Ryan Howley and Jack Burroughs from their respective loan spells in Scotland gives Lampard a chance to look at them firsthand before deciding the next move for them.

Inevitably, the rumour mill is in overdrive, but Lampard insists half the stories linking them with players are "nonsense", and he admits they are looking in both the permanent and loan markets.

Put it this way, for me: the second half of January (and into February 3 at 11pm) needs to be far more productive than the first half has been.

We will all just have to watch this space.

Coventry will seek to extend their unbeaten streak at home to seven games as they welcome Bristol City on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The Sky Blues have registered back-to-back clean sheets at home whereas the Robins have kept one in eight games on the road and only ended a three-match losing streak on their travels with a point at basement boys Plymouth in their most recent away game.

• Coventry City are unbeaten across their past four home league games against Bristol City (W2 D2), since a 3-1 loss in October 2014 in League One.

• Bristol City are unbeaten across their last five league games against Coventry (W1 D4), last enjoying a longer run against the Sky Blues between October 1979 and February 2010 (seven games).

• Coventry City are unbeaten in five Championship home matches since Mark Robins departed in November (Rhys Carr - D1, Frank Lampard – W2 D2), their longest run since February last year (9).

• Bristol City have won three of their last four league games (D1), as many victories as they managed across their previous 12 (W3 D4 L5).

• Bristol City's Scott Twine has either scored (3) or assisted (2) in five of his last seven Championship appearances, assisting in his last two in succession (v Plymouth and Derby).

Blackburn Rovers have made a £1.75m bid for Coventry City striker Brandon Thomas Asante, with the Ghana international only making the starting XI once this season for the West Midlands side. (Sky Sports, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Wednesday's gossip here.

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Coventry City had to face a tense penalty shoot-out before finally overcoming Sheffield Wednesday in Saturday's FA Cup third round at the CBS Arena.

After the match ended 1-1, the Sky Blues came back from missing the first spotkick to go through 4-3 on penalties - and earn another home tie in round four against Ipswich Town.

After Olaf Kobacki's fifth penalty for the Owls had been saved by a full-length dive from keeper Oliver Dovin, Belgian striker Norman Bassette was unfazed by the supposed pressure of clinching victory, converting a low left-foot shot into the bottom left corner.

"In my head, I am 100%," Bassette told BBC CWR. "I score for the fans and for the team. No pressure, I'm a striker."

With Coventry still missing injured top scorer Haji Wright, Bassette has played in all 10 matches so far under new boss Frank Lampard, starting all but three of them, and is feeling positive.

"The team has good potential," he said. "The new staff that has come is better than before.

"I don't have a negative feeling. I have a good feeling for the future.

"The new gaffer has confidence in me and I have good confidence in the new staff always. Every time I walk on this pitch, I work hard and I'm very happy."

You can listen to the full post-match interview on BBC Sounds.

Image source, Rex Features

Several Championship clubs will be playing close attention to comments from Aston Villa boss Unai Emery about attacking midfielder Louie Barry.

The 21-year-old has been recalled by Villa this week after a stellar loan spell with League One Stockport, where he scored 16 goals this season.

Leeds, Sunderland, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Derby, Middlesbrough, Millwall and Coventry are among the clubs reported to be keen on taking Barry for a stint in the second tier for the remainder of the campaign.

Speaking ahead of Villa's FA Cup third round clash with West Ham, Emery said: "(Barry) trained with us and we are going to make a plan with him, an overall plan,

"I think he is a very good player who is progressing well. He has been on loan doing fantastic. Now we can have a new plan with him.

"He improved because he was scoring a lot of goals on loan. With us he only trained today and yesterday. Of course we are going to try and get a good plan for the club with him."

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Frank Lampard says the loss of injured Sky Blues skipper Ben Sheaf provides an opportunity for others to step up.

The 26-year-old midfielder limped off an hour into Saturday's late 2-1 defeat at Norwich and Lampard revealed he could be out until the end of February.

"It's unfortunate," Lampard told BBC CWR: "He has a muscle injury and is going to be out for between four to possibly six weeks.

"It's unfortunate for us (given what he means to us) as a player, captain of the club - it was a busy period of games, we rely on him a lot, it can happen to any player at any time in these busy periods. It's unfortunate but it's an opportunity for others."

Wide man Tatsuhiro Sakamoto is fit again but Sheaf joins forwards Haji Wright and Ephron Mason-Clark on the sidelines and Lampard said: "It's a challenge. Other players have to step up."

Lampard revealed he is working on incomings during the transfer window, adding: "We want to help the squad if we can. We have options. If we want to bring someone in it has to be improve us in this moment or improve us in the long term. We have to be strategic."

The Sky Blues return to FA Cup action after last season's semi-final heartbreak against Man United when they host Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday (18:00 GMT).

Lampard - who scored the winner for Chelsea in the 2009 FA Cup Final - said: "Growing up, from a young boy watching on TV, I've loved the competition, I'm still a traditionalist in the sense of how important it is. I was lucky to have good success in it for the most part, so it's a big competition for me.

"We'll pick a strong team because we want to do well in it. We've got a strong squad, so there might be a couple of chances for players who haven't been playing so much but I'm picking a team that I want to win the game."

Sheffield Wednesday will head to the CBS Arena to take on Coventry City in the FA Cup third round on Saturday (18:00 GMT).

• Coventry have progressed from five of their six FA Cup ties against Sheffield Wednesday, including a round four victory last season en route to the semi-final.

• Sheffield Wednesday won 2-1 away at Coventry in the Championship earlier this season, ending a 15-game winless run at the Sky Blues in all competitions.

• Coventry have scored at least three goals in each of their last four FA Cup matches – only one team in the 21st century has scored 3+ goals in five consecutive games in the competition proper, with Tottenham doing so between January 2021 and February 2022.

• Sheffield Wednesday have progressed from their past six FA Cup third round ties, last going out at this stage of the competition in 2016-17.

• Coventry's past four home games in the FA Cup have seen 25 goals scored, an average of just over six per game – 3-4 vs Wrexham, 6-2 vs Oxford United, 4-1 vs Sheffield Wednesday, 5-0 vs Maidstone United.

Blackburn Rovers are in talks with Coventry City over signing defender Liam Kitching to provide cover for the injured Harry Pickering and Hayden Carter. (Lancashire Telegraph, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Thursday's gossip here.

Coventry's 18-year-old midfielder Kai Andrews is set to join Motherwell on loan for the rest of the season. (Football Insider, external)

Want more EFL transfer stories? Read Tuesday's full gossip column.

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Coventry City midfielder Jamie Allen said the whole team was "very disappointed" after conceding twice in stoppage time to let a one-goal lead slip in the 2-1 loss at Norwich.

Allen started his first game since 21 September at Carrow Road on Saturday, having been out for almost two months with a knee injury and on the bench after returning in late November.

"The lads worked really hard to get to 1-0 in the 90th minute and then for them to put them in the top bins like that, it's very disappointing," he told BBC Radio CWR.

"We kept them to minimum chances, shooting from long-range. We hung on until the very end, it's a sucker punch really."

The 29-year-old said he was happy to be back in the starting line-up and believes the Sky Blues played well despite the defeat.

"We worked as a proper team and I hope it continues," Allen added. "It's in the past now, so we have to look forward and think about the future.

"The new manager [Frank Lampard] has come in and has good ideas. We're working with those ideas and hopefully we can put performances like that together week in, week out and results will come."

Listen to Jamie Allen's post-match interview on BBC Sounds.

Leeds are keeping tabs on Coventry midfielder Ben Sheaf, with the former Arsenal youngster expected to cost around £8m. (Leeds United News, external)

Whites forward Joe Gelhardt is expected to leave on loan this month, after struggling for minutes this season, with QPR, Derby, Coventry, Plymouth and Portsmouth reportedly interested, though the 22-year-old could also have options overseas. (Darren Witcoop, external)