Frank Lampard has said that he is ready to adapt his Coventry City side’s tactics to overcome the odds in the playoff semi-final.
The Sky Blues trail Sunderland 2-1 after a tough night in the West Midlands, with the Wearside club gaining a decisive edge late in the game after a defensive error gifted Eliezer Mayenda a goal.
Lampard Highlights First Leg Fault
Speaking ahead of the match at the Stadium of Light, Lampard discussed how he has prepared his side and credited Regis Le Bris’ defensive approach to the match. He said to Coventry Live:
“We don’t know how the game will look. “We don’t know that they’ll come and play at home as they play away. It could look completely different, so we have to be ready for lots of different things.”
“Apart from the two goals (in the first match), the rest of the game was pretty much ours to a big degree. We played pretty well, had a lot of the ball, created some chances and they defended really well, making it difficult for us.
“So I think some of the responsibility is on us to be a little bit more intent, a little bit more at the top end of the pitch where things didn’t fall for us. Maybe the result could have felt better. It’s the reality of playing football. The team comes, has a plan to defend very low and they negate a lot of spaces that you want.
“It’s normal, they’re entitled to try and do that against us. You don’t want to give them the counter-attack moment or the last goal. But I’m fine with it. It’s what it is now. We just have to prepare for the game in front of us, go and try and play like we did the other day without the little errors that we put in. Try not to do those and also a little bit more intent, like I talk about.”
Writers’ View
It is now up to Coventry City to overturn the deficit they find themselves in, and after 90 minutes of football, Frank Lampard will feel his side can do that. They had the run of the mill against Sunderland but could not find their way past their defence, barring Jack Rudoni’s goal. Lampard has done it before when in charge of Derby County against Leeds United, but considering how difficult they found it to get past Sunderland, it may be a trickier match-up for him.
