Coventry City: Frank Lampard confirms Jack Rudoni and Bobby Thomas situations | OneFootball

Jack Rudoni and Bobby Thomas both missed Coventry City's 2-0 win over Bristol City on Saturday

Coventry City edged one step closer to automatic promotion to the Premier League last weekend.

The Sky Blues earned a 2-0 win away to Bristol City, leaving them nine points clear of third place Millwall with now only 10 games to go.

Ipswich Town in fourth are just one point further back, but Kieran McKenna’s side do hold a fixture in hand, so it will be far from plain sailing for the club between now and the end of the campaign.

Goals from Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and Haji Wright in the first half sealed an important three points at Ashton Gate, although a red card to Joel Laditbeaudiere in between the two goals meant Frank Lampard’s side finished the match with 10 men.

This was Coventry’s fifth win in a row in the league, a run that stretches back to their 3-1 victory over Middlesbrough on 16 February.

However, they had to earn the three points without key players like Bobby Thomas and Jack Rudoni, who both went off injured in the recent win against Stoke City on 28 February.

Frank Lampard provides Jack Rudoni and Bobby Thomas injury update

Lampard has confirmed that Thomas is likely to be unavailable for selection for the next three games as he continues to recover from his calf injury.

The midfielder could make his return against Swansea City prior to the international break, but he will definitely be absent for upcoming clashes this week against Preston North End and Southampton, which will come as a blow to the squad.

“We don’t have Bobby for probably the next three games, potentially, so we’re getting a bit thin there but the boys coming in have done well,” said Lampard, via Coventry Live.

“He suffered a calf injury against Stoke and he’ll probably be out going into and around the international break.

“Hopefully he’ll be back for the game before but, if not, just after.”

Lampard also revealed that it is a similar situation with Rudoni, but he is unsure yet whether it’s the same injury that prevented him from playing for 10 games earlier in the season.

“Rudi has done the same as Bobby and it’s the same timescale.” he added.

“I don’t know at this stage [if it’s the same injury].”

Coventry are seeking automatic promotion back to the Premier League for the first time since 2001 after suffering play-off heartbreak in two of the last three campaigns.

The Sky Blues reached the play-off final in 2023 under Mark Robins, but a penalty shootout loss to Luton Town consigned them to another year in the Championship.

Lampard guided the team to a fifth place finish in the table in the previous campaign, but a 3-2 aggregate loss to Sunderland again left them in the second tier.

Next up for Coventry is a home clash against Preston on 11 March in an 8pm kick-off as they seek a sixth win in a row.

Jack Rudoni and Bobby Thomas blow will be a test for Coventry

We are firmly in the business end of the season now, so missing two key players like Rudoni and Thomas is a big blow for the squad.

They managed their absences against Bristol City well, but another three games without them will be a real test of Lampard’s side.

Sakamoto stepped up with his first goal for the team since November to open the scoring, while Victor Torp came back into the starting lineup and performed well before going off in the final stages.

Lampard will be pleased to see the depth of his squad in full effect against Bristol City, and he will need these players over the next couple of weeks to maintain this winning run.