Chris Wilder once thanked Coventry City boss Frank Lampard for letting Sheffield United sign ‘outstanding’ gem

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Chris Wilder and Frank Lampard built a positive relationship but will now face off when Sheffield United and Coventry City clash.

The Championship finally returns later this week, with the marquee tie seeing Sheffield United and Coventry City face off on Friday evening.

The Blades are in the Championship title race going into the latest round of fixtures, sitting level on points with Leeds United.

The Yorkshire outfit were in good form prior to the international break, while Coventry are now looking to build on their 3-0 hammering of play-off rivals Sunderland on March 15.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LeedsLeeds	38	23	11	4	76	25	51	80
2	Sheff UtdSheffield Utd	38	25	7	6	53	28	25	80
3	BurnleyBurnley	38	21	15	2	52	11	41	78
4	SunderlandSunderland	38	19	12	7	55	37	18	69
5	CoventryCoventry	38	17	8	13	55	48	7	59
6	West BromWest Brom	38	13	18	7	48	34	14	57
7	Bristol CityBristol City	38	14	15	9	49	41	8	57
8	MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough	38	15	9	14	57	48	9	54

The game is expected to be an entertaining affair, with two of the top managers in the division going head-to-head.

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Chris Wilder thanked Frank Lampard for letting Sheffield United sign Ethan Ampadu

Lampard has spoken about Wilder previously, after the two faced off during the latter’s first spell at Bramall Lane.

The former England midfielder was Chelsea manager at the time and endured some mixed results against his upcoming opponent.

Wilder has spoken glowingly of Lampard as well, including back in September 2020 following the completion of a transfer.

Sheffield United agreed to take Blues youngster Ethan Ampadu on loan for the remainder of that season.

After the deal was wrapped up, Wilder, as per the club’s official website, stated that they needed to thank Lampard and labelled Ampadu ‘an outstanding young player’.

He said: “Ethan is an outstanding young player for Chelsea, and we’ve worked really hard to get his signature for the season.

“We need to thank Frank Lampard and the people at Chelsea for helping making this happen. We’ve got a good relationship with them and they know we’re going to take good care of him.”

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Chris Wilder vs Frank Lampard head-to-head record

Ampadu has since joined Leeds, who are Sheffield United’s closest rivals in the race for the Championship title right now.

A win over Coventry this weekend would be massive for the Blades, with Wilder likely confident of securing a victory given his largely solid record as a manager versus Lampard.

The pair first faced off in the 2018/19 season when the Coventry boss was at Derby County, with the Rams coming out on top on that occasion.

But Wilder has since lost just one of the following four meetings between the pair.

The last meeting between Sheffield United and Coventry was a 2-2 draw in 2024 when Rhys Carr was managing the latter.