Frank Lampard reveals Coventry City duo Bobby Thomas and Liam Kitching’s reaction to the weekend’s show of togetherness at Southampton
Tempers flare between Southmapton and Coventry City players at the end of the Championship match at St Mary’s Stadium
It’s fair to say that Bobby Thomas and Liam Kitching would have been front and centre of the post-match dust-up at St Mary’s Stadium had they not sat out the trip to Southampton with illness.
Coventry City’s first choice central defensive pairing are always the first at the scene when it comes to backing up their team-mates if and when things get heated on the field of play. And manager Frank Lampard has revealed that the no-nonsense defenders were there in spirit at the weekend when it all kicked off after the final whistle.
Things got heated after the City boss reacted to the abuse he’d suffered from the home fans by celebrating his team’s hard-fought point with ten men in front of them, sparking angry scenes as a number of Saints players took exception to it. That, in turn, resulted in Sky Blues players getting involved, most of whom acted as peacemakers trying to diffuse the situation which probably looked worse than it was, aside from a few harsh words being exchanged.
Asked if Thomas and Kitching were gutted not to be there, Lampard said with a chuckle: “Yeah, yeah, they would have been. They’re obviously a big part of what we do here, and are big leaders in the team.
“And the answer is, yeah, they’ll be gutted to have missed that but I know from speaking to the lads that they were very happy to see how the team performed and the togetherness of the group.
“It’s not something that comes overnight, that togetherness, and it’s one of our strengths. We have to keep going with it and we have to have character in certain situations and fight for each other and play with good quality and all those things. And we got tested in different ways at the weekend and dealt with it really well, I thought.”
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