FRANK Lampard insists Coventry City deserve to be a Premier League club again but anticipates a big step up for the Sky Blues next season.
Lampard has guided Coventry back to the top flight of English football for the first time in 25 years in his first full season at the helm.
And the Sky Blues boss lifted the Championship trophy following a 3-1 victory against play-off hopefuls Wrexham.
Lampard gave a speech on the pitch following the trophy lift before taking time to enjoy the celebrations with the players and supporters.
And the Sky Blues head coach expects the Premier League to prove a big jump for the club in a number of ways both on and off the pitch.
Lampard said: “It means an incredible amount for the football club because of being out of the Premier League for 25 years.
“It’s a club that deserves to be there because of the size of it, the fanbase of it, the history of it.
“These boys have performed with such consistency and quality. It’s the most challenging league to get out of.
“I’m just delighted for what it means to so many people. It was a special way to finish here at home.
“I’ve got great communication with Doug [King]. We’ve got a lot to talk about.
“This is going to be a big jump for us in many ways. We’ve risen very quickly.”
Coventry and Lampard suffered an agonising play-off semi-final defeat against Sunderland last season.
And Lampard admits his side began to target automatic promotion as the season wore on.
Lampard added: “It was a challenge because we wanted to get to the stage where we didn’t have to go through the jeopardy of the play-offs.
“We had a little dip around January, there was a lot of fatigue, but since then the boys have just cracked on.
“We didn’t start the season with ‘let’s go automatics this year’, it’s only become the motivation as the season has gone on.
“The players have improved and made themselves into the dominant force in the league.
“It’s made the job really pleasurable.”
