Frank Lampard has backed Milan van Ewijk after the defender’s mistake cost Coventry City during the first-leg

Coventry City manager Frank Lampard and player Matt Grimes have backed Milan van Ewijk after the right-back’s error in the play-off semi-final first leg against Sunderland.

Van Ewijk, one of Coventry’s most consistent performers this season, was involved in the build-up to Sunderland’s winning goal, playing a stray pass backwards to goalkeeper Ben Wilson, which Eliezer Mayenda was able to pounce upon and score. But both Lampard and Grimes were quick to stand by the Dutch defender.

“I’ll speak to him, it’s football,” Lampard said after the game against Sunderland at the CBS Arena. “He’s been brilliant for us this season. He’s been absolutely amazing; he plays every game and has had a fantastic season for us. Mistakes happen in football.”

Grimes was equally supportive, calling Van Ewijk one of the best in his position in the division. “Milan is an unbelievable player; he has been brilliant for us this season,” said the Coventry man. “He plays near enough every game, and he is one of the best right-backs in the league, in my opinion, but mistakes happen in football. We will pick him up, no problem at all. We have got such a good group, such a good camaraderie, so we will all be together and get on and fully focus on the second leg.”

What did Le Bris say after the game against Coventry City?

Le Bris admitted that he had been uncomfortable in the first half with Coventry’s dominance down their right flank but believed his half-time tweaks proved key.

“We did really well this season and of course, the last period was a little bit different but it was our plan to refresh our squad to create the condition to have the full squad available,” Le Bris said. You saw how important it was today, the energy and the commitment was there. You need this in play-off football.

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“I was not really comfortable in the first half, they overloaded their right side and we were outnumbered. I think it was a little bit tough for us. We fixed the problem during the half-time tweak so even if we conceded crosses and throw ins in the second half, the balls we were recovering were different. They were better for us and we felt it was possible to create the link to counter attack. This was our game plan because we knew have those threats with our forwards. They can manage big spaces and they showed that it was possible.

“It's tough to create this mindset to defend the box to be fair but it's a really strong quality of this team,” Le Bris added. “I was surprised early in the season to see this behaviour because they want to defend their box, their goalkeeper and their goal. They stick together all the time. Even when it's tough you can feel this energy. In this period it's more about mindset than tactics and technical qualities. For sure, it helps. The mindset is so important.

"We [have been] talking a lot about complacency, consistency, discipline, because young players before making mistakes can just be driven by the dynamic of the game, the score. Now the game is finished so I was really impressed again today. I was impressed by the level of maturity today. It was tough, it wasn't an easy game but they stayed connected and grounded in out principles. This was the main principle of our success today."

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