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Frank Lampard opens up on the two Coventry City stars who have given him a 'great feeling'

Coventry City face Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Monday evening

Coventry City 's Stephen Mfuni
Coventry City 's Stephen Mfuni

Coventry City are starting to look more assured in the steps they hope will lead to Premier League survival.

After a tough first four games which yielded zero points and no goals Frank Lampard’s team have won back-to-back matches and go to Tottenham Hotspur on Monday night looking for a third successive victory.

Five goals and six points against Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United have lifted the newly-promoted Sky Blues three clear of Spurs and changed the narrative around last season’s Championship winners.

They will still be underdogs in their first trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but ones who have a bit of bite – especially their young pups.

Of all the things that have pleased Lampard in recent weeks it is the development of some of their less experienced players, not least teenagers Sidiki Cherif and Stephen Mfuni.

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Both scored in the 4-1 win over Newcastle, with 19-year-old striker Cherif marking his full Premier League debut with his first goal and by winning the sixth minute penalty with which Jack Rudoni set the Sky Blues on their way.

Defender Mfuni, an 18-year-old on loan from Manchester City, came on and produced a spectacular curled fourth goal that capped a memorable evening and Lampard is happy to promote youth.

“If they're good enough, yes, they always bring a good positive energy when they come into the group,” he said.

“I've felt that at Derby in my first throes of being a manager, I think we had the oldest squad or second oldest squad in all the leagues and it needed an injection of youth and energy and the boys brought it.

“As long as they have a personality and character to match their talent, they want to learn and want to train and all those sort of really energetic things, they are great to work with because they engage with you.

“Jack Rudoni is a little bit older now but he has that ‘What can we do on the training pitch? What can we go over from the game? What do you think of this? What do you think of that?'.

“Those things are great to work with and when you see them improve in front of your own eyes, then it's a great feeling as a coach.

“Sidi and Steph are the latest ones who are young but also carry themselves with a maturity, maybe slightly beyond their years.”

But the former midfielder, who in January 1996 made his own West Ham debut as a 17-year-old in a 3-2 win over the Sky Blues, accepts there is a balance between opportunity and responsibility.

“I just treat them like first team players, that's the difference, they deserve that,” he said.

Sidiki Cherif of Coventry City celebrates scoring
Sidiki Cherif of Coventry City celebrates scoring

“Sidi’s played in European competition and Fenerbahce is a high level, high pressure, club and Steph's played for Man City, he was playing in Man City's first team in pre-season.

“So you understand that they're capable of what the demands are but you still have to be there ready at all times because some things will be the first time they've felt it, or seen it.

“As long as they feel that support and their application and desire to get better is there along with their talent, then it can be a pleasure.

“It's easy for me, I'm 48 but I was that young man a long time ago. It's easy to forget what's surrounding them – and in this modern day even more than what I had. Social media and agents and uncles and parents and everything, there's a lot of conversations.

“But with the best ones, I think you can isolate that hopefully, they have good support and work on the pitch, and when you're working with a talent and it's clear, it's very enjoyable.”

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