Frank Lampard proffers perspective as Coventry City well beaten by leaders Leeds United
Frank Lampard admitted that his Coventry City side have to take their defeat to league leaders Leeds United “on the chin” after being beaten by clearly the better side.
The Sky Blues had themselves to blame for the manner of the visitors’ two goals as they raced to a 2-0 lead inside the first 26 minutes and had goalkeeper Oliver Dovin to thank for making several impressive one v one saves in the second half to avoid an embarrassing scoreline against a side that put seven past Cardiff at the weekend and could quite easily have done the same at the CBS Arena had they been more clinical in front of goal with the chances they created.
Asked if one of the biggest disappointments on the night was the manner of the two goals – the first coming after giving away possession cheaply in the middle of the park and the second when Jayden Bogle was allowed to dance his way into the box with Dovin spilling the ball in the process, Lampard said: “Yeah, maybe, conceding goals, we haven’t been doing it much and the nature of them, yes... The first one can happen, we’re trying to play and then obviously the spaces are different when you give it away and they hurt you straight away. And the second one is a mistake, so in that sense I guess the answer is yes.”
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City chances were few and far between but Ellis Simms and Bobby Thomas were denied by excellent saves from opposition keeper Illan Meslier as the home side attempted a second half fight-back that left them vulnerable to several counter attacks.
Asked if he felt the scoreline could have been different, the head coach admitted: “Yes and no, because our keeper made some good saves in the second half. They are a strong team and they deserved to win the game. Sometimes you just have to accept that.
“They’re top of the league for a reason, they have a lot of players with quality and speed and we saw and felt it. And sometimes you have to not accept the fact but understand it. We have been on a really good run and this shouldn’t halt our momentum or thought process too much because they can come along when we’re in our part of the process compared to where they are, and sometimes you learn a bit in those sorts of defeats.
“We shouldn’t be too negative about it because we have been on a good run but today we showed just a different level and that’s for us to understand and move, I think.”
Agreeing that a bit of perspective is needed, he added: “Yeah, for sure. Listen, we knew we were coming into a tough game today and you want to win it but Leeds are in a really good moment as well.
“They are a strong team and there will be things to analyse and things we can do better, for sure, and we haven’t felt that for a while because it’s been positive, positive, positive but now it’s one that you have to accept that a team came, were better than us and deserved to win the game. And I am not going to jump all over the players for that because they have been great since we have been in.
“This is just one game that we have to take on the chin a little bit and come back. Games come quickly now so there’s a chance to respond, starting with Ipswich at the weekend and then QPR.”
