EPHRON Mason-Clark admits Coventry’s City attack has become the team’s first line of defence under Frank Lampard.
Mason-Clark excelled for the Sky Blues following Lampard’s arrival as head coach in November last year.
The 25-year-old scored the first goal of Lampard’s reign and went on to score five times including in City’s cruel play-off semi-final second leg defeat against Sunderland.
And the winger admits Lampard has changed the team’s mindset to ensure Coventry’s forwards play their part defensively.
Mason-Clark said: “I’ve got a few targets. I think it’s just as a collective and as an individual, it’s just to win, no matter how the result is.
“I think something that we’ve learnt as a team now is that our attack is our first line of defence and I think that’s something that last season, I kind of picked up upon later in the season.
“Just being able to protect the team when opposition has the ball and just making sure I’m in the right positions and making sure we’re a hard team to beat.”
He managed 67 minutes in Coventry’s opening day draw against Hull City despite carrying a knock.
And Mason-Clark insists the Sky Blues are ready for the challenge of facing Derby County this weekend.
Mason-Clark added: “I had a slight knock, the whole team looked after me and I’ve just been recovering and I’m feeling good now and I was to just keep playing and I will be alright.
“It’s one of those results that we’re obviously disappointed that we didn’t win but we’re happy that when we kept a clean sheet and we picked up a point against a frustrating opponent.
“The whole team was frustrated, but this is one of those things that we will look back on at the end of the season and be happy we’ve got a point in that type of game.
“I’ve played against Derby away a few times, so I kind of know what to expect and we go into every game respecting our opponents, so I know it will be a good battle, but I know that we’re ready for the game.”
Coventry travel to Derby on Saturday, August 16 with kick-off at 12.30pm at Pride Park.
