NIGEL Winterburn expects hometown club Coventry City to achieve automatic promotion to the Premier League this season.
Formder defender Winterburn won the Premier League, two First Division titles and two FA Cups during a 13-year spell with Arsenal.
The 62-year-old hails from Arley in Warwickshire and has backed hometown club Coventry to make a dream return to the Premier League.
Winterburn believes only a dramatic collapse would lead to the club not achieving promotion this season.
Speaking to OLBG, Winterburn said: “I watched a lot of Coventry last season because it’s my hometown club.
“I thought they were a little bit short last season. I think it showed when they got into the play-offs.
“But this season, I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong. But I don’t think there’s an outstanding team in the Championship.
“Coventry, with Frank Lampard, just continued that form that they produced from midway through last season.
“The points have dropped a little bit, but the gap is still there and if you look at the point difference to third, it’s incredible.
“So I think from Frank, he’ll just be telling them, just keep doing what you’re doing.
“They’re scoring a huge amount of goals and unless there’s a complete and utter collapse, I expect them to be promoted automatically.”
