Frank Lampard drops Coventry City transfer update as 'help' claim made | OneFootball

Frank Lampard believes that quality depth is key to success in the second half of the season

Coventry City manager Frank Lampard feels that his squad "needs help" in the January transfer window to continue their impressive start to the Championship campaign and secure promotion.

This is according to a report from Coventry Live, following the Sky Blues' defeat to Ipswich Town, arguably the side with the greatest depth in the division, on Monday night.

The 2-0 defeat at the CBS Arena was the first home loss of the campaign for Frank Lampard's side, and only their third of the whole season. Coincidentally, two of those losses have been at the hands of Kieran McKenna's side.

However, despite a December run of just two wins in six and two defeats against the current third-placed side, Coventry still have an eight-point cushion on Middlesbrough in second, and a 10-point one between themselves and Ipswich due in part to an incredible opening four months of the season.

It is evident, though, that squad depth has cost Lampard's side over the busy month, and the Sky Blues' boss wants to address that in the upcoming January transfer window.

Frank Lampard addresses Coventry City, January transfer window plans

Coventry have stumbled over the line into the January transfer window, winning two, drawing two and losing two of their six games in December.

Their already-thin squad has been stretched to its limits in the past month, and in an interview following his side's 2-0 loss to the Tractor Boys on Monday, Lampard admitted that being able to rotate and squad freshness have helped some of Coventry's opponents throughout the month.

"It's why we should pat oursleves on the back as a group about what we've managed to do to this point in the season, stay absolutely humble about it, and understand we need to absolutely push ourselves to the limit at the minute with the squad we have to try and get what we want out of this," Lampard said, according to Coventry Live.

"There are a lot of individuals in our team that have churned out a lot of individual minutes, and I can't make the changes at the end to bring on wingers [against Ipswich].

"Then, I see [Jaden] Philogene come on, and you go 'OK', and that's it. I'm not trying to sound too prickly, but it's a reality at this point."

With the transfer window set to open on Thursday, Lampard hopes that more bodies will be added to allow for some of his key men to rest and be ready to continue their impressive start and secure promotion.

However, the Coventry manager doesn't want bodies for the sake of bodies, and has stressed that any depth additions must be quality ones.

"We'll see, won't we," he said when asked whether arrivals were imminent in January. "I think we need help for the squad because I think you only have to look at squads that get to where we want to get, and they're bigger than ours, and freshness is key.

"And quality, by the way, we can't just bring in anyone at any point in this football club. If you want to get better, you've got to bring in people who can help and improve.

"So obviously we'll talk about that."

January additions will be inevitable if Coventry City hope to push on from impressive start

After 23 games, Coventry surpassed the 50-point mark, meaning that they're halfway to surpassing the tonne needed to get promoted automatically last season.

The likelihood this season is that things will be a bit more normal, and around 90 points should be enough to land in the top two, but things can never be taken for granted, and Lampard will know that his side cannot afford to take their foot off the gas.

Teams below them will be looking to improve in the January transfer window in the hope that they can catch up with the Sky Blues, and therefore, Coventry will need to strengthen as well. A team rarely goes up having not received that boost which comes with a mid-season arrival.

So, all eyes will be on what Coventry can do in January. If Lampard has his way, there'll be a few new faces at the CBS Arena over the next month.