Coventry City told what "only threat" to Premier League promotion is - Sky Blues fans "will agree" | OneFootball

FLW's Coventry City fan pundit has given his verdict on the club's promotion hopes this season.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Coventry City have made a hugely promising start to the new Championship season.

The Sky Blues suffered the disappointment of losing in the final minute of extra time in their play-off semi-final against Sunderland last season.

But Frank Lampard’s side have bounced back emphatically by winning four and drawing four of their opening eight games of the new season.

Only Coventry and league leaders Middlesbrough now remain unbeaten, with just two points separating the two teams heading into matchday nine of the 25/26 Championship campaign.

This has led to a rising optimism among supporters that the club could be in the mix for a place back in the Premier League for next season, with their sights set on a first top flight campaign since 2001.

Coventry City handed optimistic promotion hope claim

When asked if this could be the year for the club, Football League World's Coventry fan pundit, Chris Deez, revealed that he is starting to feel optimistic about his team earning a place in the Premier League.

In particular, he’s been impressed by how the squad have handled injury issues, singling out the absence of Jack Rudoni in the last couple of games as a key example that could define their promotion push.

“I’m getting dangerously close to believing that this could be the season,” Chris told Football League World.

“As a Cov fan, you never want to get too far ahead of yourself and count all your chickens, but it’s been an absolutely incredible start to the season.

“Our goal difference (+15) is over double the nearest team to us, and what’s really encouraging is how well we’ve dealt with injuries as well, because Jack Rudoni has been missing for the last two games, and we’ve scored seven goals.

“Haji Wright is in really good form and looking confident, and Ellis Simms is managing to get on the scoresheet too.

“Josh Eccles has stepped up really well, [Brandon] Thomas-Asante is in really good form as well, [Milan] van Ewijk is on absolute fire, [Kaine] Kesler-Hayden and [Luke] Woolfenden can barely even get on the pitch at the minute.”

Coventry City and Frank Lampard told what will prevent Sky Blues from winning promotion

Chris has highlighted one key weakness that could be the club’s undoing, and that is their ability to get in their own way and become their biggest enemy.

“I think pretty much any Cov fan will agree that any real threat to our season is Coventry City,” he continued.

“We are famously our own worst enemy.

“We’ve scored 19 goals in our four most recent games, but we’ve always got a 4-0 loss to Oxford in the tank; we just can’t get complacent.

“That’s something we’ve fallen foul of so many times over the years, we’ve got an absolutely incredible opportunity here, and the most insane part of it all is that it’s Frank Lampard leading us.

“He’s been written off by so many people and so many clubs. People keeping asking ‘why do clubs keep hiring Frank Lampard?’ I was one of those people who asked that when we were first linked with him.

“And I’m so happy to say that he’s proven me wrong. We are playing some of the best, most exciting attacking football that I’ve seen from Coventry in many, many years.

“So, for once, definitely for the first time this season, I’m not too worried about how thin the squad is because we’ve coped with that really well.

“We’ve just got to make sure we don’t fall over ourselves.”

Coventry are second in the Championship table after eight games, and sit just two points behind leaders Middlesbrough at the start of October.

Lampard’s side are unbeaten, and a two-game winning run has moved them into the automatic promotion places.

The Sky Blues have also scored 22 goals so far, eight more than the next best record in the division, and lead the second tier after eight games in expected goals (xG, 17.5), goals per game (2.8), shots on target per game (5.5), as well as also keeping the joint-most clean sheets (four) - per FotMob.

Next up for Coventry is a trip to face Sheffield Wednesday on 4 October in a 12.30pm kick-off.

This season has the feeling that it could finally be Coventry’s year

It is still too soon to say who is going to earn promotion to the Premier League, and there’s a lot that can still happen, especially in a league as unpredictable and ever-changing as the Championship.

But Coventry’s biggest problem in recent years has been their slow starts, which has cost them a better chance at promotion twice in the last three years.

Lampard has been able to address this, while also making the Sky Blues into the biggest attacking threat in the division at this moment in time, with his scoring goals for fun.

It’s an exciting time for everyone connected with the club, but there will be a lot of competition for the top two places this term, and staying grounded and composed and just enjoying the moment they're in will surely be the message Lampard is transmitting to his players, and indeed, the Sky Blues faithful.