SUPER FRANK Lampard | Coventry City manager seals playoffs with win over Boro | Matchday

Fantastic. Frank, how much do you enjoy that? Adulation of the crowd, the fist pumped and you're in the play-offs. Yes, we're not over-celebrating it because there's a lot of work to do, but in this game, the work we've had to do to get here, players, I'm talking about everyone together and collectively with the fans, how they've gone with us as we've got better and better, means that we can appreciate what we've done. So, really pleased with the fans staying in, they've supported us, they give us an extra edge here at the CBS. So, great for everyone to be able to interact with them. Obviously, the results, but why do you think they have taken to you so much and also you have gelled with this group of players? It's clicked, hasn't it? Well, yes, to this point, and I think the dressing room's really good. I came in and there was a lack of confidence. It's normal when a new manager comes in mid-season, but they've been really quick to take on all information, the things that we wanted to get better at all the time, to get physically better, all those things they took on and they look after themselves. They're a really good group. And then with the fans, I don't know, I was respectful of the job Mark done over many years here. He's incredible. He'll always be a setting stone at this club. But I just came in and worked, you know, I tried to keep my head down. When you're an ex-player, there's always a little bit of noise around it, you know, and I was confident in myself that I could come and do a job here. And I suppose the aim was obviously to get in the playoffs. I mean, at that point, it wasn't even that, it was can we get better? And week on week, we've got results, we've got better. And now we know we need to take a deep breath and go again in the semi-final. Well, you made a big call today, bringing in Ben Wilson. How much work, it's proven to be vindicated. How good was he, having been out for seven months? Yeah, brilliant. And it's been a challenging year in a way with goalkeepers. When I came in, 17 games in, all three goalkeepers have played. Ben was injured at that point. Oli came in and had a really good run. He got injured with an ACL. So it's been challenging. But Ben now, in the recent weeks, he's saying to me, he's a great character, Ben. He's one of the bosses in the dressing room. He's like, I'm getting better, Gaffer. I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready. And I'm like, so he's come in and done amazing. He's got a big personality. He's obviously a really talented goalkeeper and a massive save down the end there. And then coming out and sharp on the edge of his box. Brilliant. You and I spoke before the game. You said Jack Radony, Chelsea fan. I said he's Lampard-esque. You said, oh, he's more of a temp. That second goal, I had to look twice. I thought it was you. Yeah, yeah, a bit leaner than me. He is such a talented boy. And it's a pleasure to work with. The way he trains, he wants to get better. He engages all the time because he wants to score goals. And me and him stay on our own. And we practice. And I practice all sorts of finishes just like that, just to try and give myself an assist here. But I work with him and he's brilliant. Great energy, great quality. He moves with the ball and he can score. Both different types of goals there. The header, I couldn't score those headers. He's better than me at that. But that one is a great finish. He should be up with play at that time. That's his energy. And then the quality of the finish. Can you take the momentum of today, this win and the euphoria into the games against Sunderland? We'll try to. We have to. We have to recover because the boys have had a real big output there. We've got a few that have come in with injuries. A few injuries have made our last bit of the season difficult. But we'll recover. These fans will be the same. They'll be with us. But we have to take a breath and then understand that this pyre tonight, enjoy it because it's football and you should do. But we now need to go back and go, what does Sunderland look like? We have to prepare for the game. The best version of Sunderland as well. I know they've been in the plus for a while, so there may be a come off of it. We can't expect that to be what turns up here. We have to worry about ourselves. Can we keep doing all the good things? Can we get better? Do that and we've got a chance. Lastly, when you first arrived here in an interview, somebody said, can you make the playoffs? You said, don't even talk about it. Yeah. So what do you say now about making the playoff final? Don't even talk about it. I've been here a long time and I'm smart enough to know that, you know, from 17 to playoffs, got a long way off and they still did a month later. The first month was a lot of work and some good results and not so good results. And then all of a sudden we put on a winning run, which is very not normal in this league, so credit to the players. So I did not believe it in the beginning. I thought it was step by step, but now we're here. Have I got confidence that these boys can go and compete to get to Wembley? Absolutely. But it's football, two difficult games. Well done tonight, Frank. Thanks, Jeff.