Frank Lampard eyeing Coventry play-off glory after surprising himself with turnaround

Frank Lampard admits he didn’t expect to make the play-offs when he took over six months ago - but now they are shooting for a £200million jackpot. When the Sky Blues entertain in the play-off semi-finals on Friday they will be in touching distance of ending a 24-year absence from the .

And the former midfielder confessed he wasn’t banking on their dramatic surge up the table. Coventry were beaten finalists after a shoot-out against two years ago, but they were only two points above the top zone when Lampard took over from in November.

He said: ”We were 17th for a reason - this club's had some really good success in moving up the leagues in recent years, reaching that play-off final and the semi-finals last season, so there's great credit - but this season we were not where we want to be.

“We were probably in a relegation fight at that point, so I didn't expect it at all. But at the same time, I wanted to be confident in the squad, I wanted to make us better.”

Lampard identified the gut-wrenching 2-1 loss at in January as a turning point because he detected a rekindled fire in his players after Amankwah Forson’s stoppage-time double condemned Coventry to an undeserved loss. He said: ”I thought the players put in a really diligent, hard-working display.

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”Although we were one up in the 91st minute and lost 2-1, I drove home from that game disappointed because I'd seen the players really give everything. That was a moment of real determination, having seen the players were willing to fight.

”But at that point we were a million miles from where we are now. I didn't drive back down the A12 to London thinking we would be in the play-offs.”

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Coventry subsequently won nine of their next 10 games in the League to surge up the table, and midfield gem Jack Rudoni praised Lampard for giving the squad a “clarity” of purpose. Rudoni said: “I had a real eagerness to learn everything off him. He was my favourite player growing up. There's no one better to work with, especially with finishing.

“He came in, brought a real structure to the team and we stopped conceding silly goals. He gives us clarity every game we go into so we know exactly the game plan, exactly what we're doing and we just have to carry it out.”

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