Coventry City news from CoventryLive as Frank Lampard admits 'hardest' bit of his job is to leave players out of the matchday squad

Frank Lampard has explained Ellis Simms’ omission from Coventry City’s matchday squad against Fulham.

The big number nine has slipped back down the striking order since the return of Taiwo Awoniyi from suspension, despite stepping off the bench against Newcastle United and scoring at a time when goals are hard to come by for the Sky Blues.

Although named on the bench at Tottenham on Awoniyi’s return to the squad and on a night when Sidiki Cherif started, the 25-year-old was unused in the end and then dropped out of the matchday mix completely at the weekend.

The City manager, however, has explained his ‘tough’ decision to leave out the centre-forward, suggesting it was made based on the levels of training and insists, moving forwards, that Simms will be involved more often than not. His removal from the bench was the only change on the day when he was replaced by winger Yann Gboho, albeit unused against the Cottagers.

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Asked if the front man was injured, he said: “No, I just I just can’t pick everybody. I can’t do it and I have to cover (on the bench) at the back and in midfielder, on the wings and up front and it’s unfortunate for Ellis. And it’s not going to be every week for Ellis, in fact the opposite.”

He added: “I have to watch training every week and I just try and make a decision on that. So that’s the toughest decision of my job. Trust me, it’s the hardest bit.”

Simms has started just one Premier League game to date, playing 70 minutes against Arsenal in the opening match of the season while stepping off the bench three times – against Man City, Nottingham Forest and Newcastle – amounting to just 47 minutes of league football.

Lampard has a big decision to make ahead of this weekend game against bottom club Sunderland, whether to stick with teenager Cherif who is still bedding in following his big money move from Fenerbahce, restore the experienced Awoniyi who has struggled to make an impact from the bench in consecutive games since his return from a three game suspension, or, perhaps the least likely scenario, throw Simms in from the start.