FRANK'S LOOKING UP

For the first time in four months Coventry are facing a team higher in the league and Lamps is keen to see how his side react

- BY ANDY DUNN

SKY ON A HIGH Coventry players on their way to beating Charlton in November

AT the end of November, Frank Lampard was trying to keep a lid on the mild state of euphoria in Coventry.

His team had just beaten Charlton Athletic to go 10 points clear at the top of the Championship table after 18 games.

Bookmakers were not giving odds against the Sky Blues being promoted to the Premier League. They were seen as that much of a certainty.

Two-and-a-half months later and Lampard’ men have to look upwards to find their next opponents.

For the first time in four months, Coventry will start a game from a position other than at the summit. And Lampard is facing another fresh challenge in a managerial career that he is wonderfully determined to make a success of.

“It is a big test for us all, to mentally accept the situation,” said Lampard, ahead of tonight's mighty home encounter with leaders Middlesbrough. “There are different pressures on us now. That dial has changed. We have to stand up to that pressure.