Wrexham came from behind to beat Championship leaders Coventry 3-2 at the Racecourse Ground on Friday night, with Frank Lampard admitting he could see the result coming
Frank Lampard has confessed he sensed Wrexham‘s upset over his previously unbeaten Coventry side was on the cards even whilst they held the lead. The Sky Blues rocked up in North Wales on Friday evening as overwhelming favourites, sitting pretty at the Championship summit following six consecutive league wins.
But the Red Dragons managed to shake off the disappointment of their midweek Carabao Cup elimination by Cardiff to deliver a crushing 3-2 blow to Coventry. Wales striker Kieffer Moore bagged a perfect hat-trick to help Wrexham overturn their deficit after Ephron Mason-Clark had given Lampard’s team the advantage before the break.
Moore, who arrived from Sheffield United in a £2million summer switch, fired home three second-half goals to seal victory for the hosts, lifting his haul for the season up to nine. Tatsuhiro Sakamoto offered Coventry a glimmer of hope with a superb 88th-minute strike, but they were unable to preserve their perfect start to the campaign.
Sky Blues boss Lampard revealed he anticipated the outcome due to the thunderous home support at the Racecourse Ground and the difficulties presented by Wrexham’s tactical approach under Phil Parkinson. It follows the Welsh outfit, owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, spending £33million on new players in the summer after gaining promotion from League One last term.
Speaking to Sky Sports post-match, Chelsea icon Lampard said: “It’s a difficult match and we knew that before with the way that they play and the atmosphere and the environment here. I smelt it at half time. We were 1-0 up but I could smell it myself and we just dropped a bit.
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“Maybe that happens when you’re 12 unbeaten and you win six on the bounce. We can’t believe our own hype and I’m the one that’s defusing it all the time.
“Everyone’s getting excited and this league’s long. Don’t worry, we’re good, but this is what happens to normal teams. We haven’t been that so we better show in our next games what we really are again.”
He added: “This team has been extraordinary for 12 games. To do what we do in the Championship, not many can do it. Today we were ordinary in our performance and levels dropped a bit. We’ve had a challenging week because we’ve lost players throughout the back four.
“Part of our strength is trying to remain consistent, particularly at the back end of the pitch, but that’s not pointing at the players that came on in those areas necessarily. That’s looking at us as a whole and saying we were not quite at it today and that’s what football and this league does to you.”
Coventry remain three points ahead at the summit of the Championship following the result, though they’ve played one match more than second-placed Middlesbrough. Meanwhile, Wrexham’s win propelled them to 11th position after securing their second consecutive home victory.
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Boss Parkinson said: “It’s definitely a statement performance and win for us, not a statement to anyone else, but for ourselves. I said after the Middlesbrough game that the game should give us even more belief because it’s been growing.
“We’ve had some terrific performances. But tonight, I’m very pleased against an excellent side. If you look at Coventry’s stats, not just the wins, they’re at the top of everything. They’ve got players in a really good vein of form at the moment.
“I keep saying to everyone, we’re not here to stop the opposition. We’re here to play in a disciplined manner without the ball. But I’ve got great belief in these players and some of the football we played was at a very high level.”
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