Frank Lampard confirms Coventry City player boost for Sheffield Wednesday clash | OneFootball

The Sky Blues will have a couple of key players back ahead of a pivotal matchup with Sheffield Wednesday

Coventry City edged closer to the Premier League on Easter Monday, despite dropping points away at fellow top-six side Hull City.

Results elsewhere mean that Ipswich Town, Middlesbrough and Millwall are all gridlocked on 72 points behind the Sky Blues, who sit 12 points ahead.

With just five games remaining, Frank Lampard's side could mathematically secure promotion on Saturday when they host basement side Sheffield Wednesday, or at worst, put them within a point of it.

Four points in the final five games seems an inevitability for Coventry, given their ruthless form since that pivotal win against Middlesbrough in February, which saw them regain their place back atop the Championship. Including that, Frank Lampard's side have won eight of their last 10 league outings.

However, those at the CBS Arena will want to make sure that there's the best possible squad available throughout the run-in to reduce any worries of letting their seemingly insurmountable position slip.

Frank Lampard issues positive double injury update

Coventry and Hull played out their second goalless draw of the campaign on Easter Monday, in what was an unconventional slog of a match for Frank Lampard's free-scoring Sky Blues.

The surface at the MKM Stadium wasn't too much to the Coventry boss' liking, but Lampard also had to contend with the absence of two key players in Bobby Thomas and Brandon Thomas-Asante.

Thomas-Asante, who scored his 12th goal of the campaign in the 3-0 away win at Swansea City before the Easter Weekend, missed both Good Friday and last night, while influential centre-back Thomas was absent for the draw at Hull after playing 90 minutes against Derby County on Good Friday.

Speaking after the goalless stalemate in East Yorkshire, Lampard explained that the duo should both be available for the upcoming weekend's matchup against Sheffield Wednesday.

"Bobby had a bit of a knock on his shin and overall fatigue, so he was struggling to recover in the turnaround, but he will be OK — there's no issue," the Coventry boss said.

"Brandon has a small hamstring, and with a player like him, you've got to be really careful. We'll do some testing through the week in terms of pushing him to the max, and then if he comes through that, he'll be involved on Saturday."

Thomas-Asante, especially, has had his injury issues throughout the campaign. A similar hamstring problem saw him miss the entirety of the Christmas period earlier this season. At the time, he was the Championship's top scorer with 10 goals in 17 games.

Now he's starting to find his form again, with two in his last three, so another lengthy lay-off would be yet another cruel twist in the 27-year-old's season. Luckily enough, that doesn't seem to be the case for him, nor for Thomas.

Coventry City are closing in on the Premier League — double injury boost will all but help them over the line

It is only a matter of time before Coventry's return to the Premier League for the first time since the 2000/01 campaign is confirmed.

It could be done this coming weekend, but only if a Sky Blues win against already relegated Sheffield Wednesday is paired with both Middlesbrough and Millwall dropping points against Portsmouth and West Brom, respectively.

Frank Lampard's side will likely get over the line even without Thomas or Thomas-Asante in their squad between now and the end of the season, but there's no doubt that their inclusions will give the rest of the team a nice boost ahead of the final five games.

The Sky Blues duo have played a crucial part in getting them to within touching distance of the top flight, so it's only apt that they'll be able to help finish the job in the coming weeks.