FRANK Lampard praised youngsters Callum Perry and Kai Andrews after the pair both came off the bench in Coventry City’s pre-season draw with Real Betis.
Perry and Andrews have featured regularly for the Sky Blues in pre-season and have caught the eye of Sky Blues head coach Lampard.
Lampard felt both players deserved a chance to test themselves against La Liga side and UEFA Conference League finalists Betis.
Lampard said: “Callum [Perry’s] been with us since the start of pre-season but he’s deserved to take a part in a game like this at the CBS.
“He’s trained really well, his attitude and character around the place and personality for a young lad has been really impressive.
“He’s just risen to every little challenge in pre-season and it’s great to see. Sometimes you don’t know until you give players an opportunity against higher-level opposition.
“Callum came on and did very well and so did Kai Andrews. He’s improved in front of our own eyes in the last four weeks, it’s good to see.
“It gives me food for thought, the way Kai is playing and training he’s good enough to challenge to be in the squad and get some minutes for us.”
The game ended in a 1-1 draw as Jack Rudoni opened the scoring only for Pablo Garcia’s screamer to level the game for the Spanish side.
And with the start of the new Championship season drawing ever closer, Lampard admits he is still working out his best XI for the opening game of the 2025/26 campaign.
Lampard added: “It was a good game for us against very talented opposition, we set standards and there are some bits in possession were we could have been a bit cleaner.
“The start [of the season] is coming, we’ve had some good challenges in pre-season. I’m not so concerned about results, I’m more concerned about performances and details.
“It’s a tough test [against St. Pauli]. They are a good team, the reason we picked it as a club is because it’s tactically and physically a different challenge.
“We’re getting close to the start of the season. Some positions pick themselves but some positions I’m looking at.
“There are some areas of the squad that have more backup than others and we’re aware of it.”
Coventry finish pre-season with a home game against FC St. Pauli on Saturday, August 2 with kick-off at 3.30pm at the CBS Arena.
