Coventry City man made Ipswich Town exit call - he’s having the same frustrations under Frank Lampard | OneFootball

The former Ipswich Town man will be feeling a sense of doubt after making Coventry City move.

Coventry City defender Luke Woolfenden will be feeling doubly frustrated following the events of this season.

Coventry City have taken the Championship by storm during the first third of the campaign, winning 10 times in their opening 15 matches whilst losing just once, to sit top of the pile and open up a seven-point gap to Stoke City in third.

The Sky Blues came close to a shot at the Premier League last term, as Frank Lampard took them from the bottom half of the Championship to a fifth-place finish after 46 matches.

A last-gasp Dan Ballard header for Sunderland ultimately denied them the opportunity of achieving promotion last term, but that hasn’t affected their performances in the new season.

Coventry have looked like the division’s most dangerous team from the off and have scored a remarkable 40 goals during their first 15 matches, which is by far the Championship’s highest total.

The second-highest figure is the 26 achieved by Ipswich Town and Hull City, which amplifies just how potent the Sky Blues have been in front of goal.

A large part of Coventry’s success is due to the performance levels that some of their players have produced, with those such as Haji Wright, Brandon Thomas-Asante and Victor Torp operating at a higher level than they’ve ever previously shown.

Whilst this is extremely positive for the Sky Blues as a whole, there are some members within the squad who are disappointed with the role they’ve played thus far.

Luke Woolfenden may regret transfer decision amid Coventry City success

Coventry only signed four players in the summer transfer window, with Lampard clearly confident in what his squad was capable of.

One of those acquisitions was that of Luke Woolfenden, who swapped Ipswich Town for the Sky Blues in a deal worth £4m.

One driving force behind the move was his frustration at not receiving as many minutes as he’d hoped during the 2024/25 campaign, when the 27-year-old made just 15 Premier League appearances.

After playing a leading role in helping Ipswich achieve promotion to the top flight in 2024, this was viewed as a real coup for Coventry. However, Woolfenden’s fortunes haven’t changed too much at the CBS Arena so far.

The defender has started just two Championship matches this season, with a further three appearances coming off the bench culminating in just 273 minutes of Championship action at the November international break.

Given that Lampard’s side are sitting top of the table and their defensive unit has been one of the division’s strongest, it seems unlikely that Liam Kitching or Bobby Thomas will be dropped anytime soon.

Woolfenden may now majorly regret his decision to leave Ipswich Town, as the Tractor Boys have struggled much more than Coventry this season, which means there surely would’ve been more opportunity for him to play at Portman Road.

Although he wasn’t satisfied with his minutes under Kieran McKenna, Woolfenden is now featuring less than he was in the Premier League, which isn’t the type of playing time he needs at a crucial point in his career.

After coming through the academy system at Ipswich and spending six seasons featuring regularly in their first team, it would’ve been a huge decision the centre-back had to make when choosing to leave.

With the grass not appearing to be greener in Coventry, Woolfenden may feel regretful for leaving behind his boyhood club when it hasn’t granted him any further satisfaction in regards to playing time.

Even if Woolfenden does regret his decision to leave Ipswich Town for Coventry City, he can’t turn back the hands of time.

Unless he pursues an exit in the January window, which seems unlikely due to the £4m Lampard and Co. paid for him, the defender might just have to bide his time at the CBS Arena.

There is still plenty of football yet to be played this season, and it isn’t guaranteed that Kitching and Bobby will remain available for selection throughout, especially due to the fact that City's side is currently rather thin on the ground in terms of squad depth.

As such, it’s not hard to imagine a situation arising where Woolfenden would get a decent run in the team due to injuries and suspensions elsewhere, which would provide the former Ipswich man with an opportunity to impress Lampard.

If come May he has contributed to a promotion-winning campaign adequately, the prize of Premier League football may soften any concerns about a lack of playing time during his first term with Coventry.