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Coventry City head into the second leg of their Championship play-off final battle against Sunderland on the back foot as Sunderland ran out 2-1 winners at the CBS Arena on Friday evening.
Eliezer Mayenda’s 88th minute strike handed the Black Cats the advantage after Jack Rudoni had levelled the game following Wilson Isidor’s second-half opener.
Sunderland had not beaten Coventry for 18 years until their victory before the weekend, with it also marking their first win on the Sky Blues’ patch since 1985 and this will hand Regis Le Bris even more confidence heading into the second leg on Tuesday.
Nevertheless, Frank Lampard knows what it takes to make it to Wembley and he has the opportunity to create history for the second time in the return fixture. However, he has to if he wants to keep his promotion dream alive.
Frank Lampard holds a special record that Coventry City fans will be excited about
The Chelsea legend is in just his second season in the Championship, having last managed in the division back in the 2018/19 campaign when he took Derby County to the play-off final.
That was his first job in management, and he used the Rams’ underdog status against Leeds United to create history at Elland Road in the semi-final second leg after an unbelievable season-long rivalry with Marcelo Bielsa.
Derby were 1-0 down after the first leg at Pride Park, but they came from behind to run out 4-3 winners and book their place at Wembley.
They became the first team in Championship play-off history to lose the first game at home, and then overturn the deficit on the road, and Lampard remains the only manager to have completed that feat which will hand Coventry City supporters a potential boost.
Frank Lampard has an interesting play-off past that goes deeper than his career in England
The Rams went on to lose in the final to Aston Villa, with the West Midlands outfit securing their place back in the Premier League with a 2-1 victory after three years in the Championship.
However, despite Lampard’s long history in the top flight as a player, he has featured in another nation’s play-offs in the past – having done so with New York City FC in 2016.
His former team were knocked out in the quarter finals of the MLS Cup play-offs, losing 7-0 on aggregate to Toronto FC over two legs, with a 5-0 defeat at home ending New York’s chances of progressing through to the next round.
Lampard will be hoping that he can go that extra step this time round with Coventry and end their Championship play-off hoodoo and make his return to the Premier League after last managing in the top flight in 2023.