Coventry City

Coventry City boss Frank Lampard says his main concern is winning games and how his team perform, rather than individual prizes.

Lampard won the Championship manager of the month award for the second successive time in November.

"I'm pleased to win it twice but I'm not concerned, I'm more concerned about performance and winning games," he said.

"This game means you can't win every game. I said that when we were 10 points clear and I reiterate it now, there's a long way to go."

The Sky Blues are five points clear at the top of the Championship but have not picked up a win in their past two outings, suffering a 3-0 defeat at Ipswich last Saturday, followed by a 1-1 draw at Preston on Tuesday.

"It's important to remember that we are five points clear at the top of this league and a year ago we were 17th.

"I think people should take confidence that the work that we've done has paid off to this point and now we need to continue and find ways to improve."

Lampard was speaking ahead of Bristol City's visit to the CBS Arena on Saturday (15:00 GMT) and said he expects a tough game.

The Sky Blues have not played at home since their 3-1 win over Charlton at the end of November and Lampard is pleased to be back in front of the home crowd.

"It's a tough game no matter what way you look at it. We could be 10 points clear or five points clear or 17th in the league, Bristol City coming here as they are is a tough match for us.

"It's nice to be back at home because we feel good when we play at home where we feel confident. We've been on the road for two difficult games, so it's important to get back to that feeling."

Championship leaders Coventry City will look to return to winning ways when they welcome play-off chasing Bristol City on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The Sky Blues have gone two games without a win in the league for the first time since September, having previously won 11 of 12, but are still unbeaten at home this season (W7 D2).

The Robins rescued a valuable 2-2 draw with Leicester from two goals down last time out but have only won two of their previous eight (D2 L4) to leave them in 10th, though they are just one point off the top six.

• Coventry City have lost none of their past five home league games against Bristol City (W3 D2), last losing to the Robins in October 2014 in League One.

• Bristol City have won one of their past nine league matches against Coventry (D4 L4), a 1-0 home win in October 2023.

• Coventry have won their previous six home league matches – they last had a longer home winning run between May and October 2021 (seven under Mark Robins).

• Bristol City have won four of their nine away league games this season (D3 L2) – already as many as they won in 23 away games in 2024-25 (W4 D10 L9).

• Bristol City's Emil Riis has scored four goals in his past six league appearances against Coventry, all for Preston North End.

Image source, Getty Images

Coventry City boss Frank Lampard, Birmingham's Chris Davies, Tonda Eckert of Southampton and Derby head coach John Eustace have been nominated for the Championship's manager of the month award for November.

The Sky Blues continue to lead the way at the top of the table and took a maximum 15 points from their five games last month, scoring 14 goals along the way, and Lampard will be looking to take the award for the second successive month.

In fact, Coventry will be hoping to make it a double once again with striker Ellis Simms among the nominees for the player of the month with team-mate Brandon Thomas-Asante having won it in October.

Birmingham managed 10 points under Davies while Eckert's four-match winning streak went a long way to helping him secure the Southampton job on a permanent basis.

Derby followed their strong finish to October by winning four of their games in November to earn Eustace his nomination.

Elsewhere in the player of the month category, there is recognition for strikers Carlton Morris (Derby) and Joe Gelhardt (Hull City), while Birmingham full-back Alex Cochrane is also in the running. The winners will be announced on Friday, 12 December.

Image source, shutterstock

Coventry City defender Kaine Kesler-Hayden said their 1-1 draw at 10-man Preston North End was "tough to take" after taking the lead with 20 minutes to go.

The Championship leaders looked on course for a 14th win of the season when Andrew Hughes deflected Jack Rudoni's shot into his own net on 70 minutes.

But North End, reduced to 10 players following defender Liam Lindsay's red card six minutes before half-time, hit back to snatch a point through Daniel Jebbison's strike with 14 minutes left.

"It was a tough one to take. I thought we were in control," Kesler-Hayden told BBC CWR.

"Obviously we get the goal and they score on the counter-attack and it took the wind out of us. It's disappointing, we should've come away with all three points."

The Sky Blues had 52 touches inside the Preston box and produced 21 shots with home goalkeeper Daniel Iversen making six saves.

"We had our chances. I think their keeper did really well to keep them in the game," Kesler-Hayden, who joined Coventry from Preston in the summer, added.

"The way we conceded shouldn't happen and obviously we'll look to analyse it and fix it and go again."

The result saw Coventry's lead at the top of the table trimmed to five points after Middlesbrough's win at Charlton.

The Sky Blues are at home against Bristol City on Saturday, when they will be trying to secure a seventh win in a row at the CBS Arena.

Coventry manager Frank Lampard told BBC Radio CWR: "We're obviously frustrated not to win the game.

"Eleven against eleven we should be ahead, 11 against 10 we were playing in their half, kept on creating, had a goal disallowed, brought an incredible save from their goalkeeper, opportunity after opportunity on a difficult pitch.

"The lads did pretty much everything they could other than get those extra goals that would have given us the comfort.

"The disappointment was the [Preston] goal because we knew only a lapse from us, or a counter-attack or set-piece, was their way of scoring and we allowed that, and that I can critique.

"You have to credit Preston a bit for the way they kept trying to stay in the game, defended very doggedly and then got their goal."

Image source, Getty Images

The FA Cup third round draw was made on Monday evening, with all 24 Championship clubs entering at this stage of the competition.

Ties will take place between Thursday, 8 January and Monday, 12 January.

These are the ties involving Championship clubs:

• Cambridge United v Birmingham City

• Hull City v Blackburn Rovers

• Bristol City v Watford

• Charlton Athletic v Chelsea

• Stoke City v Coventry

• Derby County v Leeds United

• Ipswich Town v Blackpool

• Cheltenham Town v Leicester City

• Fulham v Middlesbrough

• Burnley v Millwall

• Norwich City v Walsall

• MK Dons v Oxford United

• Portsmouth v Arsenal

• Preston North End v Wigan Athletic

• West Ham United v Queens Park Rangers

• Sheffield United v Mansfield Town

• Sheffield Wednesday v Brentford

• Doncaster Rovers v Southampton

• Swansea City v West Bromwich Albion

• Wrexham v Nottingham Forest

You can see the full draw here.

Image source, Opta

Coventry will seek to get back to winning ways as they head to bogey-ground Deepdale to take on Preston on Tuesday (19:45 GMT).

The Sky Blues lost for just the second time in 19 Championship games on Saturday, going down 3-0 at Ipswich, who moved ahead of fifth-placed North End on goal difference after the Lilywhites had to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to Wrexham.

While City have a seven-point lead at the top, despite losing two of their past four away games, North End have suffered only one defeat in their past eight games but could finish the night anywhere from third to eighth depending on the results at Deepdale and elsewhere.

• Preston lost their last league match against Coventry in February, ending a 22-game unbeaten run against them. They've never lost consecutive league games against the Sky Blues before.

• Coventry have never won in 23 away league games against Preston (D8 L15), both the most they've faced a side on the road without ever winning and the most Preston have faced a side at home without defeat.

• Preston have won just one of their past nine midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) Championship games (D6 L2), beating Swansea City 2-1 last month.

• Coventry have won all four of their midweek (Tues, Weds, Thurs) Championship games this season, scoring 13 goals and conceding just four.

• Paul Heckingbottom has won all three of his home league games against Coventry, with each victory coming in charge of a different club (Barnsley in March 2016, Sheffield United in December 2022 and Preston last season).

Marc Webber
BBC Final Score reporter

Image source, Shutterstock

There was a footnote of controversy to Coventry City's second league defeat this season, and it surrounded whether Ipswich goalscorer George Hirst should have even been on the pitch when he scored their second in Saturday's 3-0 win.

Hirst was on a yellow card already when he was adjudged to be offside en route to goal, 35 minutes in.

He still attempted the shot a couple of seconds later, despite the referee's whistle, yet no second yellow was given for kicking the ball away.

That mattered to Coventry because, a quarter of an hour before that, Josh Eccles had been cautioned for kicking the ball away.

Coventry players rounded on referee Paul Tierney following Hirst's incident, demanding to know why Eccles was carded and the Ipswich striker wasn't?

It was a valid question that remains unanswered.

Manager Frank Lampard was keen to stress afterwards this was not the major reason why Coventry suffered the shock defeat. He also said he was not a fan of the punishment, anyway.

But he did feel the rule wasn't equally applied and that allowed a player to score who should not have been on the pitch, which could have changed the early dynamic of the game in Coventry's favour.

Coventry City boss Frank Lampard feels his team did better than the scoreline suggested as they were beaten 3-0 at Ipswich.

It was just the Championship leaders' second league defeat of the season.

"We were winning everything in the first half, the second balls were dropping to us, we were the team who had the real personality," he told BBC Radio CWR.

"Great organisation, work ethic off the ball, everything was great and we restricted them.

"And they get a goal from a bit of a mess at a corner. Then you've got a difficult job, but I still thought the players kept going.

"3-0, I don't like it, of course. I'm a bad loser, I hate defeats and I'll analyse them and maybe react to the players.

"Circumstances happen, I don't like losing and the reaction is the only important thing.

"But in terms of the game I thought anyone who was here and saw that first half will realise this isn't Coventry from the first half of last season, this is a team that wants to try and go and do something. Today we didn't but it can happen."

Coventry City will need to find a solution to cover for the absence of their top scorer Brandon Thomas-Asante, says boss Frank Lampard.

The 10-goal forward will miss the next six weeks with a hamstring injury sustained in a 4-2 win at Middlesbrough last month.

"(It's) really disappointing for us both. I know how hungry he is, how well he's been doing," Lampard told BBC CWR.

"He's been playing various positions for us, and wherever he plays he gives everything."

Along with Derby's injured striker Carlton Morris, Thomas-Asante is the Championship's leading marksman, contributing a fifth of the Sky Blues' 50 goals so far this season.

"He's a big loss for us. We don't have big numbers at the front end of the pitch," said Lampard.

"He was so helpful to us to play on the left, at 10, on the right, as a nine if needed, so we have to find solutions in the short term to get by without that and I'm disappointed for him personally, because he was flying."

It also means the 26-year-old will miss out on potential selection for Ghana's Africa Cup of Nations squad, having made his first senior international start for the Black Stars in November.

Ipswich Town will need to defeat a formidable Coventry City on Saturday (15:00 GMT) if they are to regain a place inside the top six.

The Tractor Boys are currently just one point outside the play-off places but now have the unenviable task of welcoming the league leaders, who are 10 points ahead of the pack.

With Ipswich the joint-second highest scorers in the league (30) and the Sky Blues making history with their scoring prowess (50), this one could be electric should it live up to its billing.

• Ipswich have won four of their last six league games against Coventry (D1 L1), doing the double over the Sky Blues when they last faced in 2023-24.

• Coventry have won two of their last four away league games against Ipswich (L2), more than they had in their previous 27 visits to Portman Road (D8 L18).

• Ipswich have lost just one of their nine home league games this season (W4 D4), going down 3-0 against Charlton Athletic in October.

• Since Frank Lampard's first game in charge on 30th November 2024, Coventry have scored more league goals than any other side in England's top four tiers (92), while only Birmingham (32) have won more games than the Sky Blues (29).

• Coventry's 3-1 win over Charlton last time out saw them reach 50 goals for the season in 18 games, the fastest a second tier side has scored 50+ in a campaign since Sheffield Wednesday in 1958-59 (16).

"[Carl] Rushworth has been superb. Everyone is now talking about whether we can sign him. What are the chances of signing him? He's that good.

"The way he's playing at the minute, his fee has probably gone up. There was a lot of talk about us trying to buy him permanently in the summer for figures between £6m-£10m. If that was the case, he's probably easily £10m+ now.

"The only thing that might work in Sky Blues' favour is he only has one year on his contract past the summer, so he will go into his final year at Brighton."

BBC Radio CWR's Will Oelrich is joined by Coventry City supporters Ben and Danny to discuss the 3-1 win over Charlton and the January transfer window.

There is also talk about whether the Sky Blues should sign on-loan goalkeeper Carl Rushworth on a permanent deal from Premier League side Brighton.

Listen to the latest Sky Blues Fancast in full on BBC Sounds.

Image source, PA Media

With Coventry City riding high and 10 points clear at the top of the Championship, we asked if you're confident the Sky Blues will win promotion to the Premier League.

We also asked what could possibly stop Frank Lampard's side this season. Here's some of your responses:

Andrew: Cov are the best team in the league on and off the field, the feel is different than other seasons. We have gained from Lampard's experience of winning. Being a City fan this season is living a footballing dream.

Chris: January will be massive for us. Injuries are starting to seep in, and really we need to get ahead of the game and make signings in anticipation of going up. If we are still top by New Year and have a gap of at least 6-8 points, then I'll start to believe.

Andy: While there is still a lot of football to be played, this is a team who have great rapport with the manager, the fans and with each other. While the football is excellent: positive and a pleasure to watch, the off the field progress has been remarkable: the purchase of the stadium, the investment in the training ground and the match day experience. It really feels like it's going to be our year.

Stephen: Hopefully we can avoid too many injuries as we have a small squad. If we can then I believe we will get automatic promotion.

Geri: After watching us the last 24 years through relegations, promotions, numerous near misses and management changes, I am really feeling positive about our chances this season. I was sceptical about Frank Lampard taking over, but I am happy to say that I was completely wrong about him. Our achievements to date have been nothing but amazing, and I am really hopeful that we can finally get the promotion we deserve this season and we can finally resume our place in the Premier League.

Luke J: We desperately need reinforcements in January otherwise Doug King is going to look very silly and we'll be lucky to make the play-offs with the lack of depth in the squad once injuries start to roll in.

Warren: They are amazing and playing the type of football that we all like to see. However, what will stop them is injury. They haven't got the largest squad so a couple of bad injuries could seriously stop their season. Hopefully this won't happen! I still think that they will at least still reach the play-offs.

Marek: I am confident that Cov can finally thrust themselves into the Premier League with Frank Lampard. What concerns me most is the coming transfer window and the team being split apart by Premier League approaches on our first team players.

After Coventry City hit the 50-goal milestone in their 3-1 win over Charlton Athletic, Ephron Mason-Clark has already set his sights on three figures.

After going a goal down to the Addicks, Coventry fought back for their fourth comeback win of the season, and made it 50 goals and 43 points in their opening 18 games.

Mason-Clark told BBC CWR: "It showed a lot of character, bouncing back, with the help of the fans as well. It was an all-round good performance.

"50 goals is an amazing stat but we want to get 50 more, and more and more. Our objective is: nothing is ever good enough until the end of the season.

"Our main focus is each game, making sure we learn from our mistakes in previous games and to rectify it."

After starting just once in Coventry's opening 15 games, Ellis Simms has now started the past three, scoring five times in that run with another double against Charlton.

"He's doing amazing, we just have to keep getting him service," Mason-Clark said.

"It just shows the quality we have in the squad. It shows how competitive and good the squad is."

Mason-Clark - who came off late-on at the CBS Arena after a knock on his Achilles, but should be fine for Saturday's trip to Ipswich Town - hailed the connection between the players and fans after a crowd of more than 31,000 cheered them to a 13-point cushion in the race for automatic promotion.

"I feel we have [formed] that bond with the fans over the past couple of seasons.," he said.

"The community of Coventry is coming to support, we're all working in cohesion right now. It's an amazing feeling to be a part of it, a lovely community and team."

With 11 wins from the past 12 league games and a 10-point lead at the top of the Championship, Coventry City are flying high.

Sky Blues fans, it's time to have your say on the following:

• How confident are you that Coventry will win promotion to the Premier League?

• What, if anything, could stop Frank Lampard's side from doing so?

Let us know your views here.

Marc Webber
BBC Final Score reporter

Image source, Getty Images

There are three things in life that are certain.

Death, taxes and Coventry City scoring a bucket of goals.

Saturday's 3-1 victory over Charlton Athletic was the 10th game this season where the Sky Blues had three goals or more in a game.

They have now bagged 50 in the league and it puts them ahead of some great names.

No other side in most of Europe's active professional leagues has reached that target yet. Bayern Munich and PSV come close on 44, but no-one else in England's top four divisions are near them.

The only team that can boast better is The New Saints in Wales, with 53 goals from the same number of league games.

It is a true testament to the amazing turnaround the fans of Coventry have witnessed since Frank Lampard took on their side a year ago last week.

Seven-goal Victor Torp has praised the manager for supporting him to be better. Ellis Simms has scored five in the past three games. And even these two are playing catch up with Haji Wright (eight goals this season) and Brandon Thomas-Asante (10).

It is this form that is bringing around even the most hardened Coventry fan who had doubts over the manager's appointment last year.

However, while it brings joy, it also brings risk.

With the January transfer window approaching, current Premier League clubs may be making some bids if this hot form continues.

But they would have to be some pretty chunky offers to prize these players away from perhaps the most unified team in the league.

A side which seems unstoppable right now.

Image source, Getty Images

Coventry boss Frank Lampard praised his side's patience as they secured their third win in eight days.

The Sky Blues followed their comeback win over West Brom last weekend by beating second-placed Middlesbrough in midweek and then fighting back again to defeat Charlton 3-1 on Saturday.

Lampard told BBC CWR: "[It is ] a really important and good win for us at the end of a tough week.

"We've had to try to manage the squad, we've got a few issues so I was really pleased after going 1-0 down to show the patience in our game, to keep going, keep probing.

"You worry when there's a clear penalty you don't get that the whole stadium sees, you worry when they block things on the line and you wonder if it's going to be one of those days.

"To be fair to the lads they kept calm, got two goals in the first half and then saw out the second half very well against a dangerous opposition."

Image source, Shutterstock

In-form Coventry City midfielder Victor Torp said working with Frank Lampard over the past year has helped him try to become more dangerous around the opposition's box.

The Dane has scored seven goals so far - second only to 10-goal Brandon Thomas-Asante - in a squad that has claimed an English Football League high 47 goals - 19 more than the next team in the Championship and 14 more than League Two MK Dons, the next highest scorers in the EFL with 33.

With Lampard celebrating his one-year anniversary in charge of Coventry on Friday, Torp said the Chelsea legend's own goalscoring prowess, which brought a club-record 211 goals, has played an important part in improving his game.

"I feel like I have a freedom in my game, where I have a role where I can get into the box, and he was one of the best at getting goals there when he played," he told BBC CWR.

"I feel like I've been adding that to my game and I've been scoring a few and I've been happy about that.

"The main thing is getting in the right positions where the ball can land so you can get the shots off."

Torp added that Lampard always makes time to be available for a chat.

"We have a good relationship and I feel like I can contact him whenever I have any questions," he said.

"I feel like he has that belief in me as a player and that's something I enjoy, and I try to do my best whenever I'm on the pitch."

With the Sky Blues 10 points clear at the top of the table ahead of Saturday's home game against Charlton Athletic (15:00 GMT), Torp said the dressing room is, understandably, a happy place.

"There's a really good vibe in the whole building and in the dressing room," he said. "We have a great team and the feeling is very positive at the moment."