Lampard said he could also tell from the reaction of the fans in the away end at Plymouth that there’d been a positive development elsewhere for Coventry in the race for the play-offs.
It’s as you were in the race for the final two play-off spots, with Bristol City, Coventry and Boro all losing on Easter Monday. Millwall took advantage by beating Norwich to move within three points of the top six.
Boro would have moved into the play-off places with a win at Hillsborough and led at half-time thanks to Finn Azaz’s opener. But the out of form Owls fought back in the second half, levelling 10 minutes after the break before substitute Anthony Musaba scored an 89th minute winner.
And Lampard, whose side were 3-1 down at bottom of the table Plymouth, was quickly made aware of the late twist at Hillsborough.
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He said: “The travelling supporters have come a long way today and they will be disappointed by the performance.
“They were obviously aware of the other results towards the end of the game, which was good and it perked me up at a time when someone on the bench passed a message to me.
“You can be happy when you lose a game and see that. As much as we’re disappointed and we can only control ourselves, that was a nice situation to come into at the end of the game.”
Coventry have now won just two of their last six games but Lampard remains calm, with the Sky Blues now facing a tough trip to Luton next up before the final day visit of Boro in what could be a straight shoot-out.
He said: “It is in our hands and we have to focus on ourselves while realising Millwall and Boro have games around us.
“It’s important that we stay calm through the week and prepare really well for the game and don’t get too caught up in the emotion. We have to understand it because tension can be good if it’s dealt with in the right way, and that’s where we’re at now.
“We have got a good group of players. They understand it and they are not happy, they know they didn’t play as well today but I’m with them and we all take that collectively.”
Bristol City also slipped up on Monday, losing at Luton, and are away to Leeds next Monday night. But the Robins know they’ll be in the top six ahead of their game at home to Preston regardless of how the coming weekend’s fixtures play out.
Boss Liam Manning said: “That’s the exciting bit right?.
“It’s been a long, long time since the club’s been there so for me, the lads deserve a huge amount of credit..
“But we’ve not done anything yet, it’s where we sit and what position we’re in after 46. So for me, it will be no different. Suck it up today and get ready for Monday.”
