Frank Lampard's Coventry clinch Premier League promotion ahead of Portsmouth visit - plus what will be at stake at CBS Arena
Pompey travel to Coventry on Tuesday night knowing that the Sky Blues’ route back to the Premier League has been sealed
Coventry City will play host to Pompey on Tuesday night knowing their Premier League future has been already been secured.
Frank Lampard’s side sealed the solitary point they needed to win automatic promotion back to the top flight with their 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers on Friday night.
An 84th-minute Bobby Thomas goal handed the Sky Blues a share of the spoils at Ewood Park, after Ryoya Morishita gave the hosts a 54th-minute lead.
The defender’s late leveller guaranteed Coventry a top-two place in the Championship and a return to the Premier League for the first time in 25 years.
Now the focus will be on beating Ipswich Town to the league title, with three games of their season remaining.
The second-placed Tractor Boys, who lost ground on the league leaders thanks to a 2-0 defeat to the Blues in midweek, currently sit 11 points behind City in the table but with two games fewer played.
There’s a chance Lampard & Co might have to wait to be crowned champions.
However, if Kieran McKenna’s side fail to beat Middlesbrough on Sunday and Coventry defeat Pompey at the CBS Arena next Tuesday night, then the hosts’ promotion party will turn into a title-winning occasion.
The Blues know all too well the scenes that could unfold after they secured the League One title on a memorable Fratton Park night against Barnsley back in April 2024.
In an ideal world, John Mousinho’s side would have hoped the Sky Blues’ would have wrapped everything up before their trip to Coventry next week. Yet their draw against Blackburn means they still have work to do.
As for what Friday night’s result means for the bottom of the table, well, it moves Rovers above the Blues in the standings.
Michael O’Neill’s side currently sit in 19th spot with 49 points from their 44 games played.
However, Pompey can overtake them and take a huge step towards securing their Championship status if they can beat second-from-bottom Leicester City in today’s lunchtime kick-off at Fratton Park.
At present, Rovers have also played two games more than those teams currently looking to avoid relegation to League One.
The other key games at the bottom of the Championship table today are: Derby County v Oxford, Preston North End v West Brom and Sheffield Wednesday v Charlton.
Pompey could find themselves as high as 18th and seven points clear of the relegation zone if results go their way today.