Frank Lampard says now is not the time to get down about his Coventry sideâs Championship play-off semi-final first leg defeat to Sunderland.
The Sky Blues â who finished fifth, seven points behind their opponents during the regular season â dominated the ball at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Friday night, but were held at armâs length for long spells by Regis Le Brisâ defensively resolute team.
And though Jack Rudoni cancelled out Wilson Isidorâs opener within two minutes of it hitting the back of the net, Milan van Ewijkâs blind backpass gifted Eliezer Mayenda the winner, which puts the Black Cats in the driving seat ahead of Tuesdayâs second leg at the Stadium of Light, which is live on Sky Sports.
âIt was a good performance from the team,â he said. âWe pushed and pushed, and dominated possession of the ball. We are unfortunate to be one behind going into the second leg.
âWe played them here six, seven weeks ago or so and, with the way weâve been playing, I understand it as a coach, you want to come out and negate the spaces that we want, so we controlled a lot of it.
âI couldnât complain with the players in terms of the low block. You can say move it quicker, do this, do that. Itâs not easy. Itâs not easy against that.
âAnd they defended their box really well. Sometimes you just say well done to the opposition.
âIf youâve got eight bodies in the box and youâre crossing it, itâs hard. We defended well and on another day things go for you over the course of 90 minutes. They didnât quite go for us tonight.
âWill the game look like this on Tuesday? Iâm not sure. So certainly not time for us to get too down about it.â
On Van Ewijkâs error, which left the Dutch defender in tears after the final whistle, he said: âWe donât have to talk about that now. Heâs been brilliant for us.â
Lampard was reminded of the 2018/19 season, when his Derby side lost 1-0 to Leeds in the Championship play-off semi-final first leg at Pride Park, but scored four second-half goals in a thrilling second leg to win 4-3 on aggregate.
However, he did not want to be drawn on comparisons.
âItâs nothing to do with it because this is another group of players that weâve got,â he added.
âTheyâre another group of players. This is a different game. I understand your point, but itâs nothing to do with it. Thatâs the past.
âItâll be a tough game for us, but itâs obviously still very, very close.
âWe go again Tuesday. Simple.â
Morrison: Coventry have to go into second leg confident
Clinton Morrison on Sky Sports Football:
âTheyâre still in this. They dominated possession. They didnât create as much as they wanted, but the game will open up at the Stadium of Light and theyâve just go to go there full of confidence.
âWhat theyâve got there is a manager who knows what heâs talking about. Heâll settle them down, relax, and he wonât be critical of them.
âBut he does have to pick up Van Ewijk because he was in tears at the end. Everyone makes mistakes but heâs got to recover and go again.â
Davies: Both goals were so avoidable
Curtis Davies on Sky Sports Football:
âThe difference with the Derby scenario is that Leeds came and comprehensively beat Derby [in the first leg] and you think it will be the same in the second. They beat us three times that season, and you think going to Elland Road will be an uphill task.
âWhereas tonight his team has dominated, and in my opinion both goals are so avoidable. For Van Ewijk itâs about his character and what he shows in training. If he makes one mistake early in the next game he could go under.â
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