Frank Lampard named his Coventry City team to face Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park on the night his side were chasing one more point to secure automatic promotion in the Efl Championship. Coventry made two changes and switched to a 3-4-3 formation for the match.
Bobby Thomas returned to the starting line-up, while Ellis Simms came in up front for Haji Wright. Carl Rushworth started in goal, with Joel Latibeaudiere and Liam Kitching joining Thomas in the back three. Milan van Ewijk and Jay Dasilva were set to operate as wing-backs, while Frank Onyeka and Matt Grimes took the holding midfield roles and Jack Rudoni and Ephron Mason-Clark were expected to provide width behind the forward line.
Brandon Thomas-Asante dropped to the bench, and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto missed a second consecutive game with a rib injury. Romain Esse and Wright were among the attacking options Lampard kept in reserve.
Coventry arrived at Ewood Park in search of automatic promotion, while Blackburn were in a relegation battle. That made the selection calls more pointed than usual: Lampard chose stability in some areas and a new shape in others, with the margin for error down to a single point.
The unanswered question was whether Coventry could get the result they needed on a night when the table, the venue and the pressure all worked against a neat ending.