'No fortune' - Coventry City boss Frank Lampard delivers Sunderland verdict amid double potential injury blow

Coventry City boss Frank Lampard has admitted that he is “not at all” surprised by Sunderland’s success this season, suggesting that the Black Cats “very much deserve” to be in the hunt for promotion from the Championship.

Regis Le Bris takes his side to the West Midlands on Saturday afternoon, and will be hoping to return to winning ways following a frustrating 1-1 draw with Preston North End on Tuesday evening. For their part, Coventry unexpectedly lost to relegation-threatened Derby County in midweek, but have otherwise been going well under Lampard in recent weeks, and head into this weekend’s contest two places and 13 points behind Sunderland in the table, with their play-off hopes still very much intact.

And assessing the Black Cats prior to Saturday’s match, the former England midfielder was quick to praise Le Bris and his side for the manner in which they have inserted themselves into the promotion picture this term.

Speaking in a press conference on Friday morning when asked if he was surprised by Sunderland’s recent success, he said: “No, not at all, because they're a very good team. They play in a very similar way week-on-week. They've had a long season to work here with the manager from the very start of pre-season. They've got good players, good individuals, good way of applying, and there's no fortune in what they're doing. They very much deserve to be where they are in the league.

“For sure. It has to be exciting for us, because we've got ourselves in this position. We, as I say, can continue with the belief of how we've been playing in front of our home crowd. You know, we have to believe in ourselves. We have to give every drop going into the international break to try and get the result that we want.”

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The last time the two sides met, Sunderland squandered a two-goal lead at the Stadium of Light to draw 2-2 back in November. That match was also notable for the Black Cats insofar that they suffered a double injury blow to Romaine Mundle and Alan Browne, both of whom have returned to the first team fold in recent weeks.

Focusing in on this weekend, Lampard offered an update on the injury status of his own squad, suggesting that midfielder Ben Sheaf and forward Brandon Thomas-Asante are both doubts ahead of the weekend. He said: “They've had niggles this week, so we'll know where they are after today's training session.” When asked if either player had a chance of being involved in Saturday’s clash against Sunderland, Lampard added: “We'll see, we'll see.”

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