Coventry City handed double boost ahead of Derby County clash | OneFootball

Frank Lampard could welcome back two of his most influential stars vs the Rams

Heading into the final international break of the Championship season, Coventry City remain in a fantastic position at the top of the table.

With none of the three sides directly below the Sky Blues emerging victorious on Saturday afternoon, which included a dramatic draw between Ipswich Town and Millwall at Portman Road, Frank Lampard's side took full advantage through a comprehensive 3-0 success over Swansea City in South Wales just a few short hours later.

It was a sixth win in seven Championship matches for the West Midlands side, with a 2-1 defeat to in-form Southampton the only recent blot on their copybook, as they established a nine-point advantage at the top of the second tier with seven crucial matches still to play.

It has been well-documented that Coventry have spent 25 largely chaotic years outside the Premier League since their relegation back in May 2001, but they are just a matter of weeks from ending such a lengthy exile after two previous instances of play-off heartbreak in the past three years.

Many of Lampard's players have stood up to the plate when needed in crucial moments, and that was certainly the case at the Swansea.Com Stadium as goals from Brandon Thomas-Asante, Matt Grimes and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto had the contest wrapped up ahead of the interval.

However, Sky Blues supporters, Lampard and the rest of his Premier League-bound squad will also be thrilled to learn that, arguably, City's two most influential players could immediately return to action the other side of the two-week fixture break for the all-Midlands clash with Derby County at the CBS Arena on Good Friday.

Coventry City could be with both Haji Wright and Jack Rudoni for Derby County showdown

Two of the most notable omissions from City's squad for the pivotal success over Vitor Matos' Swans were that of Jack Rudoni and Haji Wright, with it being confirmed in the lead-up to the match that the playmaker would be joined on the sidelines by the USMNT international for a brief period.

Wright sustained a groin problem in the 62nd minute of the loss to Southampton over a week ago, and had to be replaced by Ellis Simms, with the knock also keeping him out of Mauricio Pochettino's national squad for upcoming friendlies with Belgium and Portugal.

The 27-year-old has been the subject of criticism at various points of the campaign, but had previously stepped up with six goals in his previous six appearances - including a hat-trick against Middlesbrough - to go just one goal behind Zan Vipotnik in the Golden Boot race.

Rudoni, meanwhile, has still provided plenty of key moments for City despite a stop-start campaign as a result of injuries, with his most recent blow being a calf strain.

However, Lampard did reveal that he would hope the 24-year-old would be back in training over the course of the international break, which could see him, and Wright, return against the Rams on Friday week.

Haji Wright and Jack Rudoni returns could help Coventry City over the promotion finish-line

No side in the Championship has got close to the Sky Blues' total of 81 goals from 39 games, with Wright and Rudoni contributing to 28 of those.

As such, it does show exactly how pivotal the creative duo have been, but how City haven't been overly reliant on them at the same time as when they have suffered injury setbacks.

It is hard to see a world in which Coventry do not win the division at this moment in time, though, and their returns will only add to the feelings of positivity in CV6 as they look to seal promotion as soon as possible.