The Championship leaders are looking to make their long-awaited return to the Premier League
Coventry moved back to the top of the Championship after a 3-1 win over Middlesbrough on Monday night, but head coach Frank Lampard insisted his players must not get “carried away” by promotion talk.
Haji Wright proved the difference in the match, scoring a hat-trick to secure a big result in the promotion race. The United States forward had already struck the post before opening the scoring after 21 minutes.
Wright doubled the lead 10 minutes after the restart, although Riley McGree pulled a goal back for Middlesbrough to set up a tense finish.
Coventry restored control when Matt Targett handled inside the penalty area, allowing Wright to complete his treble from the spot and seal all three points.
The win, Coventry’s first in four matches, lifted them one point clear of Middlesbrough, with Millwall six points further back in third.
Lampard praised the performance but warned there is still a long way to go in the campaign.
“It was a big game of football and showed why it’s one and two in the league. They are a difficult team to play against. In terms of the game plan, we worked on it a lot this week and the lads delivered it so I’m very happy.
“If we can play like that and deliver like that, we have 14 more to go now. We have to take that as a template of what needs to go into a game.
“There’s so many points to fight for. We’ve got ourselves in this position, it’s game on. There is so much to play for and we absolutely can’t get carried away.”
Lampard also stressed the importance of maintaining their focus all the way until the end of the campaign.
“We have to focus on ourselves. No one can rest. It’s about action, but we have to recognise the effort we put into this game to stick to a plan and deliver that. West Brom will be a different challenge.”
Wright’s hat-trick took him to 13 goals for the season and his manager was quick to praise him.
“Haji keeps his head down, he’s been working hard and we know what Haji can be like when he’s in that form. Really pleased for him and he has to take that forward.
“Especially with a high-level game, you have to score in critical moments and we did today. Haji to deliver the pressure penalty.
“Everybody worked and Haji did the business.”
Middlesbrough, who had won six straight matches before the defeat, dropped to second place. Head coach Kim Hellberg felt the contest was close, but that his side ultimately didn’t do enough.
“Disappointed we played too much into their hands.
“They were better than us in the first half. Second half we were brilliant, take away the two situations where they scored.
“We created lots of opportunities. They score both of them for not doing too much. They were awful goals to concede.
“I know if our performances are good enough we will be in a good position in the table at the end of the season. You look at the game and we had 17 shots in the game.
“Coventry are a good team, good players, squad and coach. It was a game of very small margins. It’ll be a race till the last day probably so we just need to enjoy it.”
