Coventry City: Frank Lampard sends Liam Kitching message amid Blackburn Rovers transfer talk | OneFootball

Coventry City boss Frank Lampard reacted to talk that Liam Kitching could leave for Blackburn Rovers this month.

Coventry City boss Frank Lampard insists he is ‘not aware’ of any interest from Blackburn Rovers in Liam Kitching.

The 25-year-old has only made one start for the Sky Blues since Lampard replaced Mark Robins, although that did come against Norwich City last time out, and he has featured just once from the bench under the new head coach.

Therefore, it was certain to have been a frustrating period for Kitching, and it was claimed in the week that Blackburn could look to sign the player to increase their options at the back.

Frank Lampard on Liam Kitching transfer talk

However, speaking to Coventry Live, Lampard was clear that no talks have taken place, and he explained how he is still evaluating his squad following his arrival in late November.

“Not as far as I’m aware (Kitching to Blackburn talks), and I’m not concerned.

“Yeah (open to keeping Kitching). I’ve been here in the short term, and I’ve done this job quite a few times now and for a period of time, and I know that you can try to make conclusions too quickly when you come into a squad that aren’t always the conclusions you come to in the end. I’m not just talking about Coventry, I’m talking about being at Chelsea, at Derby... You know you have to give players fair time and players have to be patient because I can only pick certain players.

“They have to do everything right but I can’t make those casual observations now to go, ‘no, he can leave and go and do this or that,’ so we absolutely have to give players time to work, to feel what’s the best for this season and see how good we can get. We want to improve performances and how many points we can get and then can we look at it (in the summer) and go, how do we get even better?

“This isn’t that time, for me, Absolutely not. Many things can change but at the same time I want to work with these players.”

Frank Lampard will be planning for the long-term at Coventry City

Coventry are six points above the relegation zone at the moment, so whilst they do have a talented squad, the short-term aim for Lampard has to be to get results to ensure they aren’t dragged into a battle at the bottom.

Moving forward, though, it’s about building for the future, and, as he says, he is still assessing the squad and making decisions on who will be part of his plans.

With Kitching, he hasn’t played as much as he would’ve wanted, but there’s a simple solution to that, and he needs to keep training well and taking the opportunities that are sure to come his way at some point over the coming months.

The Midlands outfit invested a decent sum in the player, and at 25, he can still become an important figure for Coventry in the years to come.