PRESSURE TEST

Boss Lampard hopes defeat will calm Sky Blues promotion hype

- BY STEVE JUDGE

FRANK LAMPARD knows he is entering a make or break period of the season on and off the pitch at Coventry.

The Sky Blues boss is hoping a second defeat of the season will silence some of the hype surrounding his runaway leaders.

Revelations that no team have held a 10-point lead after 18 games and not been promoted have ramped up the pressure, especially now that gap is down to seven.

Lampard insists talk of a record-breaking season is all noise from outside the club.

His focus is on what his squad needs to seal a return to the Premier League for the first time since 2001.

Coventry are short of numbers in forward positions and have been linked with Swedish champions Mjallby’s £4.8million-rated Gambian striker Abdoulie Manneh.