FRANK Lampard does not believe Coventry City’s top-of-the-table clash against Middlesbrough is a ‘must-win’ game for the Sky Blues.
Coventry trail Boro in the Championship table by two points having previously led the division by 10 points following victory in the reverse fixture back in November.
However, a run of four wins in 13 games has seen the Sky Blues relinquish top spot for the first time since early October.
League leaders Boro come into the clash on the back of six successive victories in the league.
However, despite knowing a win would return the Sky Blues to the top of the table, Lampard does not believe the fixture falls in the must-win category.
Lampard said: “I understand talking about different pressures, whether your first or second, those pressures are great.
“If you’ve have offered me at the start of the season, first or second as a pressure, I would have bitten your hand off.
“Our form was amazing in the first half of the season and the fact is Boro have gone into similar form to what we were in and we’ve come off it a bit.
“Is this must-win? No because there’s 14 other [games]. Do we want to win it? Absolutely yes and we have to give everything to try and do that.”
Coventry claimed a 4-2 win against Boro in the reverse fixture at the Riverside Stadium.
At the time, the result moved the Sky Blues 10 points clear of their promotion rivals at the top of the division.
And Lampard knows victory for his side in the top-of-the-table clash will likely mean more than the three points on offer.
Lampard added: “Boro have had a very good season. They started the season strong, the change in manager came around while they were pretty strong.
“The [new] manager has had a great start to his job. There’s a lot of respect from the outside with how he’s got them playing.
“Us and them have been toe-to-toe for a lot of the way. Even when we’ve been points ahead. We’ve dropped eight points and they’ve gained nine which changes the face of it.
“First versus second is one of those games [which if you win can lift the club]. There’s lots of ingredients to the game that make it a hugely important game.”
Coventry host Boro on Monday, February 16 with kick-off at 8pm at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
