Frank Lampard can seal Coventry City promotion on one big condition - it involves Jack Rudoni | OneFootball

Frank Lampard must focus on getting the best out of Jack Rudoni at Coventry City

Jack Rudoni was not only one of Coventry City’s standout performers last season, but one of the Championship’s as well, and Frank Lampard must quickly find a way to get the best out of the midfielder to reignite their automatic promotion push.

Coventry’s spot at the summit of the Championship has been snatched at the hands of Middlesbrough, with the Sky Blues’ recent form having fallen off a cliff.

The Sky Blues had an excellent first half of the campaign, emerging as outright favourites to go on and win the league title, but fast-forward a month or so past the halfway stage, and they no longer find themselves in the top spot.

With just two wins in their last eight games, Frank Lampard’s side have undergone a catastrophic drop-off in form and must quickly find a way to stop the malaise before too long.

Their attack, in particular, has suffered a major regression, and Lampard must look to get the best out of one of his key players from last campaign, who has the ability to influence a game on their own.

Frank Lampard must find a way to get the best out of Jack Rudoni to rescue Coventry City’s season

In the first 23 games of this season, Coventry scored 54 goals and looked well on course to break a century of goals by the end of the campaign. However, in the following eight games, they have scored just nine, with their goalscoring touch having somewhat disappeared.

The January window saw the likes of Jahnoah Markelo, Romain Esse, and Min-Huron Yang reinforce their attacking areas, but Lampard should be looking elsewhere to find more productivity in the final third.

Jack Rudoni scored nine and assisted 12 in 43 Championship appearances last season, averaging a direct goal contribution almost every other game, but this season has seen a big decrease in his numbers.

The attacking-midfielder suffered a calf injury earlier this season, which has seen his playing time take a massive hit as a result, starting just 17 games this campaign thus far, scoring twice and grabbing four assists.

His numbers, at the moment, are a far cry in comparison to last year, and Lampard simply must find a way to get the 24-year-old back fit and firing sooner rather than later to significantly boost Coventry's promotion prospects.

Best utilised in the number 10 role just behind the centre-forward, when fit, Rudoni walks straight into the side, though Lampard must find the best combination of players surrounding Rudoni in order to get the best out of him.

With a third of the season to go, Coventry, despite their recent slip-up, remain as one of the favourites for promotion, and should Lampard be able to get the best out of Rudoni once again, then they should have little issue with re-finding their excellent form from the first half of the year.

Jack Rudoni could be the key to reviving Coventry City’s form in front of goal

Indeed, it’s not just Rudoni who has struggled in recent months, with a large portion of Coventry's squad’s form having tailed off.

Brandon Thomas-Asante, for example, exploded into life in the early stages of the campaign, but a mixture of injury woes and a dip in form means he has not added to his ten goals since November.

Haji Wright has just two goals in his last 19 league games, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto has just one direct goal contribution in his last 14 league games, whilst Victor Torp, who found a knack for hitting the back of the net in the early stages of the season, has scored just once in his last 16 league games.

So whilst Rudoni has certainly not been as influential as Lampard would have hoped, the rest of the squad has not picked up for that slack, resulting in their subsequent dip in form.

If Lampard can start to get the best out of Rudoni once again, then everyone around him should naturally begin to improve. The former AFC Wimbledon and Huddersfield Town midfielder possesses ample talent and natural ability, being one of the division's most outstanding players less than 12 months ago, and could be the key to unlocking Coventry’s form in front of goal once again.