Frank Lampard hails ‘very special’ Coventry ace who somehow fit Derby win into crazy 24 hours

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Coventry City’s strong start to the 2025/26 campaign continued on Saturday with a dramatic victory over Derby County, but it was one player’s action off the field that earned Frank Lampard’s praise.

The Sky Blues finally ended their Pride Park hoodoo, coming back from 3-2 down with 20 minutes to go to win 5-3 and move to fifth in the Championship table.

Coventry boss Lampard pointed to his side’s ‘quality’ and ‘belief’ as the deciding factor in the eight-goal thriller against his former club. Right back and Wolfsburg target Milan van Ewijk was the standout as he provided assists for two out of the five goals scored by the away side.

However, Lampard made sure to give a ‘special mention’ to another Coventry star who had to ‘shoot off’ to the hospital after the entertaining win.

Liam Kitching faced hospital trips with his wife surrounding Coventry’s win over Derby

The former Chelsea boss revealed that defender Liam Kitching had been with his wife in hospital on Friday night after she went into labour. The 25-year-old made the decision to still play before returning to his wife after the final whistle.

“Yeah, I’ve got to give Kitch such a shout because he’s shooting off now to go and see his wife,” Lampard said. “I think she’s hopefully going to have the baby [Saturday].

“Kitch is a throwback. I gave him absolutely everything in terms of to do what he felt was right in terms of his family and being there. And hopefully this all goes to plan.

“Kitch has played brilliantly, turned up this morning, was with his wife last night, goes back, and we hope it’s all well later on. But he needs an absolute special mention for that because that just explains what he’s like as a man and a footballer.”

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Despite being sleep deprived, Kitching wore the armband in captain Ben Sheaf’s absence and played the whole 90 minutes of the clash.

He drew two fouls and put in three tackles, the second most tackles from any Coventry player behind teammate Jay Dasilva’s six. Goals four and five both came from long balls from the former Leeds youth player.

“Yeah, he was [sleep deprived],” Lampard continued. “I rang him this morning and he’s a man of few words on the phone, and he said they’d been up a bit, and I said that it’s in his hands, that I support him, whatever he wanted to do.

“And he said, ‘No, no, I’ll be there,’ so he turned up and he played, as he generally does. And now, as I say, fingers crossed that all goes well later on. Again, he’s a throwback to a player that’s an absolute family man and that wants to play for his club. Very special!”

At the time of writing, there has yet to be an update regarding the birth.

Kitching, who was previously in talks with Blackburn Rovers in January, remains at Coventry with two years left on his current deal. With Sheaf out with a groin injury, he more than stepped up when given the armband.

Frank Lampard full of praise for Jack Rudoni performance too

Lampard’s feelings about another Coventry star were recently revealed. Jack Rudoni, who also played against Derby on Saturday, has been a standout for the Sky Blues.

Southampton have made an approach for the midfielder, and it was reported that Coventry were prepared to sell him if a Premier League club made the right offer.

Sky Sports’ Lee Hendrie recently revealed Lampard’s view on Rudoni. He said: “I think Frank Lampard really did get the best out of him, and spoke highly of what he does.

“I watched him when he was at Huddersfield, and there was always something in there that made me think he could really kick on.

“There is a £15 million price tag, but I am sure they will want to keep him. I know that Frank thinks he is a fabulous asset for the football club, and he proved that last season.”

Meanwhile, when asked about Bobby Thomas and Rudoni’s links to other clubs, Lampard admitted he wanted to ‘keep’ his ‘best players’, but that it wasn’t always possible to do so. For now, the Coventry boss has the star duo at his disposal.