FRANK Lampard believes his side is developing an improved ‘cutting edge’ after Coventry City secured a late win in a top-of-the-table clash at Stoke City.
A late acrobatic effort from Ephron Mason-Clark sent Coventry five points clear at the top of the Championship table at the bet365 Stadium.
And Lampard feels the nature of the victory shows his side are playing with more belief on the road when looking back at some of Coventry’s results earlier in the campaign.
Lampard said: “It’s a great feeling because it’s a tough fixture. We dealt with the game brilliantly from start to finish.
“The work of the players, the togetherness and the tactical approach off the ball – our off the ball game was great – we were really hard to play through.
“We looked dangerous all the time through the game as well. I felt we thoroughly deserved it against a good team.
“This is a game where sometimes we’ve been away from home and going well and then all of a sudden you think have you got the belief to go away from home in a big game.
“Leicester away earlier in the season – nil-nil – did we really believe we could go there and score? Not enough for me.
“As we develop, can we have a bit more cutting edge in these type of games and I saw that extra edge in our group and that makes me happy.
“It’s a great win for us going into the break. It’s great where we’re at, we’ve worked hard to get there but there’s so long to go.”
The game’s only goal came four minutes from time as Ellis Simms flicked on Milan van Ewijk’s long throw and Mason-Clark lashed a stunning bicycle kick into the net from 10-yards out.
And Lampard heaped praise on match-winner Mason-Clark for producing a magical moment which proved decisive.
Lampard added: “It was an outstanding goal – the skill level of it.
“The opportunist kind of way of hitting it. Not every player can do that but Ephron’s got that magic.
“He came up against a really difficult opponent who was strong and quick with him but so is Ephron.
“He kept going at him and giving him problems and he got absolutely what he deserved.
“We have to keep our feet on the ground, not get overly excited but to this point we’re winning a lot of games.”
Coventry are next in action against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, November 22 with kick-off at 12.30pm at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
