FRANK Lampard praised Coventry City’s ‘character and spirit’ following victory against Bristol City despite playing more than half the game with 10-men.
The Sky Blues secured a fifth straight league win as Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and Haji Wright struck for the visitors at Ashton Gate.
Coventry scored either side of Joel Latibeaudiere’s red card while Adam Randell saw red for the home side after the break.
The result leaves Coventry five points clear of Middlesbrough at the top of the Championship table.
And Lampard praised the way his side dealt with the challenge of going down to 10-men shortly before half time.
Lampard said: “It was a brilliant performance. The circumstances of the game were challenging.
“They gave us some problems and we were not completely at it [at the start].
“We get our goal and then we get control and then we lose a man and so we have to make a change straightaway.
“The second goal was crucial to the game and our mindset and to give us something to hang on to and a feeling.
“The way the lads dealt with the second half was outstanding. Great character, great spirit and we showed another side [to us].
“If we want to get to where we want to get to, things are thrown up in front of you and you deal with them and the group were great.”
The Sky Blues broke the deadlock on 37 minutes when Sakamoto’s back-post header squirmed through the gloves of home goalkeeper Radek Vitek after Jay Dasilva floated a cross into the box from the left.
The visitors then lost Latibeaudiere to a red card two minutes before half time after Emil Riis Jakobsen pounced on the Coventry defender’s loose touch and pulled the forward to the ground as the last defender.
However, Coventry doubled their lead in first-half injury time when Wright won the ball on the edge of the penalty area and fired a show into the bottom left corner from 15-yards out.
Bristol City received a red card of their own after the interval on 56 minutes with Randell shown a second yellow card after he caught Josh Eccles in the chest with his boot to leave both teams down to 10-men.
The nature of the victory pleased City boss Lampard with the Sky Blues now just 10 games away from sealing a dream return to the Premier League.
Lampard added: “There’s 46 games in this league and it’s brutal. It’s a tough league.
“We’ve had enough games where we’ve put teams away, played great football and scored goals.
“But you have to have a bit about you. You have to have a strong backbone.
“We’re made up of different characters who have grown a bit this year.
“We need another 10 games of that.”
Coventry are next in action against Preston North End on Wednesday, March 11 with kick-off at 8pm at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
