FRANK Lampard praised Coventry City’s ‘calmness and patience’ after the Sky Blues came from behind to beat Charlton Athletic and maintain their lead at the top of the table.
The home side fell behind to Harvey Knibbs’s early goal only for Josh Eccles to level the game before Ellis Simms scored a brace to seal a fifth straight win for the Sky Blues at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
The victory keeps Coventry 10 points clear of the chasing pack at the top of the Championship table while the club also reached the 50-goal mark for the season in just 18 matches.
And Lampard praised his side for remaining calm in the face of adversity after the Sky Blues trailed early on and saw a penalty shout turned down by the referee.
Lampard said: “It’s a really important win. Trying to manage the squad, I was really pleased to go one-nil down and show the patience in our game to keep going and keep probing.
“You worry when there’s a clear penalty that you don’t get and when they block things on the line, is it going to be one of those days.
“They didn’t [let the penalty decision affect them]. It probably affected me more on the line because it was as clear as they come.
“But to be fair to the lads they kept calm and got the two goals in the first half and we saw out the second half very well against dangerous opposition.
“Thankfully, the boys and the way the team carried on made it [the penalty decision] not that important.”
Knibbs put Charlton ahead on 13 minutes with a scrappy goal from close range after Coventry failed to deal with a long ball into the box.
However, the home side equalised five minutes before half time when Eccles curled a low shot into the bottom right corner from the edge of the penalty area.
And Coventry completed the turnaround four minutes later as Simms rose highest to nod home Victor Torp’s corner from the left.
Simms sealed the points on 76 minutes with a finish from close-range into an empty net after Charlton goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski kept out Jack Rudoni’s initial effort.
Midfielder Eccles scored his second goal in three games as he continued to repay the faith shown in him by boss Lampard.
And Lampard wants Eccles to believe in his ability as a goalscorer and hopes to use the midfielder further up the pitch rather than in the middle of the pitch.
Lampard added: “Josh has got goals in him. When I came in and spoke to Josh, he felt was more of a number six.
“I see it slightly differently at times and that’s is good because he’s got attributes where he can be versatile.
“I like him in higher positions. He’s a dynamic player and he’s got a good finish on him. It’s trying to get him to believe in that.
“Now he’s getting his opportunity, he’s playing well. He’s got to maximize everything he’s got, He’s got good energy and good feet.”
Coventry are next in action against Ipswich Town on Saturday, December 6 with kick-off at 3pm at Portman Road.
