Coventry City

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Frank Lampard says Coventry's players need to be "up to the challenge" as they seek to secure a Championship play-off place.

Despite a 3-1 defeat at basement boys Plymouth on Monday, the Sky Blues remain sixth, a point behind Bristol City and three ahead of Middlesbrough and Millwall, with each club having two games to play.

When Lampard took over, Coventry were 17th, two points above the relegation zone and 10 adrift of the play-off places.

He told BBC CWR: "We've amassed a huge amount of points from where we were.

"We're sixth, if you'd asked me when we came in if we'd take that with two games to go, absolutely we would.

"I'm not going to sit here and have a go at the lads. We've got this close, now we have to go and deal with what's in front of us in the last two games."

While the Sky Blues went down at Home Park, Bristol City lost 3-1 at Luton while Middlesbrough went down 2-1 at Sheffield Wednesday.

"It's a big bonus," Lampard admitted of the other results. "This is the Championship, anything can happen, it's the cutting-edge time of the season.

"This time of year is very hard, which is why I won't hang too much on the result."

Coventry head to Kenilworth Road themselves on Saturday (12:30 BST) with the Hatters in the relegation zone on goal difference.

"The shape will be similar (to Plymouth), the atmosphere is going to be hot, Luton are still right in it. We have to accept the challenge.

"The players know that was not our level (on Monday), it can happen, but we don't want it to happen again."

Hear more from Frank Lampard on the Sky Blues Fancast via BBC Sounds here.

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Coventry City head coach Frank Lampard was left to rue his side's mistakes as they lost 3-1 at bottom-of-the-table Plymouth Argyle.

The defeat keeps the Sky Blues in sixth place and occupying the final play-off spot.

But with play-off rivals Bristol City and Middlesbrough both losing it was a missed opportunity to further consolidate a chance of some post-season action.

"This was a game that was completely dominated by the types of goals that they score against you," he told BBC Sport:

"We were going to have a lot of the ball and it was mistakes that led to transitions and set pieces.

"If you are short on those on the day against a team that are a team of giants, big boys, you know what's coming.

"Every goal kick, every throw in, every set piece is coming in - and you have to deal with that and you have to be more dynamic to break the low block, and we were not at that level today.

"The third goal comes along and makes it even more difficult; they have something more to protect."

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Coventry City boss Frank Lampard watched his side give a polished performance to beat West Bromwich Albion in front of the largest crowd to witness a Sky Blues home win since they left Highfield Road 20 years ago - then promised "there's more to come".

An early goal from Jack Rudoni, followed by an even earlier second-half second goal from fellow midfielder Matt Grimes, led to a comfortable local derby victory over their Championship play-off rivals - aided by the sending-off of Baggies defender Callum Styles, for two yellow cards.

The win leaves sixth-placed Coventry three points ahead of seventh-placed Middlesbrough with three games left.

"We were aggressive and played some really good stuff," Lampard told BBC CWR. "It's nice to get an early goal at home and you start with the right energy.

"In the second half we get our early goal, then it was the red card. They're a good footballing team so they can handle 10 players to a degree and stay on the ball a bit. It's important against 10 men that you try and push them right back with a man advantage.

"Sometimes you don't get your goal. I'd have loved to have had three, but at the same time I was happy with the way we saw it out.

"It's a big game. And there's more to come. We've not achieved anything yet. But we're hoping to make the play-offs and it was a very, very good performance."

He was also particularly pleased with Rudoni's very Lampard-like finish for City's opening goal.

"I'm delighted for Jack," he added. "We work loads on the training pitch on those sort of finishes. He gave me a little wink when he came over. He's a top-class young player."

This is a Midlands derby with potentially significant repercussions for both sides' play-off hopes, as sixth-placed Coventry City take on West Bromwich Albion, one place and three points below them on Good Friday (15:00 BST).

The Sky Blues saw two important points slip through their fingers with Hull City's late equaliser on Monday and know any kind of repeat in this play-off six-pointer will give great hope to the Baggies - who bounced back from three straight defeats with a win against Watford last time out - and the chasing pack.

• Coventry City have lost each of their past four league games against West Brom, scoring only once in these defeats.

• West Brom have won four of their past six visits to Coventry (D1 L1), winning 2-0 there last season under Carlos Corberan.

• Coventry have won three of their past five league games on Good Friday (D1 L1), beating Huddersfield Town 3-1 last season.

• Among all teams to play 20+ league games on Good Friday, only Torquay United (10.5%) and Stoke City (12.5%) have a lower win ratio than West Bromwich Albion (15.4%, six wins in 39 games).

• West Brom's Tom Fellows has more Championship assists than any other player this season (13), 11 of which have come from open play – he's the only player with 10+ assists from open play in the competition this term.

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West Bromwich Albion have already set themselves the challenge of winning their last five games this season to stand a chance of reaching the Championship play-offs for the second successive year.

And Saturday's 2-1 home win over Watford made it 'one down, four to go'.

Mikey Johnston got what proved to be the winner at The Hawthorns, only his third goal of a comparatively disappointing campaign, given the form he was in this time last season on loan from Celtic.

Now Albion face an even tougher test, at Frank Lampard's Coventry City on Good Friday.

And Johnston, who scored what also proved to be the winner in a 2-1 victory over the Sky Blues 13 months ago, believes Albion are well capable.

"I know they've been on a good run," Johnston told BBC Radio WM. "But we're confident we can beat them. We need to win and feel we can, as we do about every game. But we also need to score more goals."

In the three straight defeats that preceded Saturday's win, Johnston reckons that losing 1-0 to both Norwich and Sunderland was all down to missed chances. And he includes himself as being among those who need to do better.

"The Sunderland and Norwich games, and Watford too, should have been put to bed a lot earlier," he said.

"I should have scored a lot more this season. I'm always trying to get on the end of crosses. It's about getting into the right positions. But it's given us confidence that we're creating a lot of chances."

Albion start the day seventh, three points behind sixth-placed Coventry. Victory would lift Tony Mowbray's men above his old club on goal difference. Defeat would make the gap six points with three games left.

The very definition of a six-pointer.

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Coventry City midfielder Matt Grimes says Monday night's 1-1 draw with Hull City was "disappointing" but keeps them on track to reach the Championship play-offs.

The 29-year-old put the Sky Blues ahead just after half-time with a deflected effort for his first goal for the club since joining from Swansea City in January.

But Abu Kamara squeezed in a late equaliser for the Tigers to deny Coventry from moving five points clear of seventh-placed West Bromwich Albion.

"Obviously it's a tough place to come with them fighting for what they're fighting for at this stage of the season," Grimes told BBC CWR.

"But [I'm] disappointed in the end to draw the game. I thought we had enough chances at 1-0 to get the second and then disappointed to concede a soft goal like that.

"But it's a point in the right direction, so we move on."

Grimes says he is "hopeful" Coventry can finish in a top-six spot but is wary that "everyone at this stage of the season is playing for something".

"I think we play two teams fighting for the top six and two trying to avoid relegation, so every game is so tough," he said.

Frank Lampard's side welcome the Baggies on Good Friday for a vital game in the play-off race with Albion three points behind before travelling to Plymouth and Luton.

"Every game is a big game," Grimes added.

"I don't think it's going to hinge on one game. We just need to keep being consistent and keep doing what we're doing."

Listen to Matt Grimes' full interview on BBC Sounds.

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Coventry City boss Frank Lampard has been speaking to BBC CWR before the trip to relegation-battling Hull City on Monday night (20:00 BST).

Here are the main takeaways as the Sky Blues look to keep their play-off bid on track:

• Victor Torp suffered a twisted ankle in the 1-0 win over Portsmouth on Wednesday and is likely to be unavailable. "We hope it's a low level ankle ligament one so we'll have to assess it," Lampard said.

• On facing Hull: "It's a tough game at any time going to Hull but they're fighting for their own points for their reasons and so are we. They've beaten some big teams recently as well, took some big scalps. We have to be absolutely mentally focused and ready for a very tough evening."

• It "doesn't matter" who you face at this stage of the season, Lampard said. "You can't read your fixture list and over-analyse it because we've seen big teams at the top of the league lose points in recent weeks in games. Motivation comes in different ways. Teams at the bottom, it can bring a real lift."

• Lampard admitted it is "hard" not to look at other results, especially with Coventry playing after every other team at the weekend. "But pushing it to the side and focusing is a really important skill at this point," he said. "It's important we just think about what we do."

• On whether the players are handling the pressure of the play-off battle well: "They are. Just in their demeanour and how they are, the drive of the group. I think we've seen that in recent performances. The Portsmouth game, scoring in the last minute, that shows character - and also maybe where we've come from because we were in a relegation position, looking over our shoulder and now we've moved up the table. We don't have less to lose, we've all got the same to lose at this point but the change in feel is a big thing for us."

Just one win from their past four games has seen Hull City drop back into trouble in the Championship.

Coventry City have won seven of their past 10 league games but have lost two of their past three outings.

• Hull have lost just one of their past six league games against Coventry (W3 D2), though that sole defeat did come in the reverse fixture back in December (2-1).

• Coventry will be looking to record a first league double against Hull since the 2006-07 campaign.

• Hull have picked up fewer points at home in the Championship this season than any other side (19), losing nine of their 20 home league matches (W4 D7).

• Coventry have lost both of their past two away league games, last losing three on the spin in November 2023.

• Hull have lost 11 of their past 16 league games played on a Monday (W3 D2). Meanwhile, Coventry have only won one of their past 18 away league games on this day of the week (D4 L13), although that was their most recent at Middlesbrough on New Year's Day 2024 (3-1).