What Middlesbrough, Coventry and Ipswich bosses are saying about the promotion race
Middlesbrough remain firmly in the race for promotion into the Premier League with under two months remaining in the Championship season.
Coventry City, Middlesbrough, Ipswich Town and Millwall appear to be in a four-way fight for the two automatic promotion places in the Championship as the season approaches a thrilling climax.
There are just under two months remaining in the campaign and it is the Sky Blues that are leading the way despite falling to what many would consider to be a shock home defeat against play-off contenders Southampton on Saturday afternoon. Middlesbrough currently occupy the runners-up spot following their frustrating home draw with Bristol City as a 96th minute equaliser from Adam Randell cancelled out an opener from Boro midfielder Leo Castledine to ensure the spoils were shared.
Ipswich were the only one of the quarter to collect maximum points from their weekend fixture as goals from Ivan Monzon and former Sunderland winger Jack Clarke helped Kieran McKenna’s side to a 2-0 win at already relegated Sheffield Wednesday. That victory allowed the Tractor Boys to leapfrog Millwall into third place in the table after a brace from Mathias Jorgensen helped Blackburn Rovers inflict a rare home defeat on the Lions.
All four sides have the rare luxury of a free midweek to prepare for their fixtures next weekend - but what are the four managers saying about the race for promotion into the Premier League?
What have Championship managers been saying about the race for promotion into the Premier League?
Frank Lampard - Coventry City (1st, 77 points)
Speaking after his side claimed a 3-0 home win against Preston North End last week, Lampard said: "We dominated the game by the way the lads approached it - the overall performance, the focus, the quality of the play, the creation of chances, the goals and the comfort that we felt. They worked brilliantly from minute one to the end against what was a tricky opposition on paper. This is not a bad team at all, Preston. We've still got work to do but the points and the goals is great recognition to this point and we need to continue for another nine games."
Kim Hellberg - Middlesbrough (2nd, 70 points)
The Swede assessed his side’s performances after their 1-1 home draw against Bristol City on Saturday. He said: “I'm very proud of the squad. I'm surprised how quickly the football has turned into this, in this league, where everyone tells me this is the most competitive league, this is the toughest league. It's impressive what we went from and how we are playing now.
“And over time it's been impressive in points, in goals scored and goals conceded, because we’re top in that [since I arrived]. But, in those home games, we should have done more. I look at numbers a lot. I see a team that no one had in the top six before the season. Now we are there. I saw a team that, at the start of the season, was over-performing their numbers massively, which means that there should be a dip in general, because that's what mainly happens.”
Kieran McKenna - Ipswich Town (3rd, 68 points)
The Tractor Boys are looking to bounce back into the Premier League at the first attempt after suffering relegation last season. Assessing the situation last week, manager Kieran McKenna said: “We’re going to have a lot of games, we’re going to have tough games, but there are some brilliant games in there to look forward to. It should be a really exciting end to the season.
“But that’s all to come. All we can control at the moment is the next game. We have to keep performing well and picking up results to make sure that it is an end to the season with a lot on it. If we can get to that point, and we’re still fighting for our goals, and if we have to go and win back-to-back and back-to-back games in quick succession away from home, then that’ll be a great challenge for us.”
Alex Neil - Millwall (4th, 68 points)
Speaking after his side’s promotion push was dealt a surprise blow by a home defeat against struggling Blackburn Rovers, the former Sunderland boss said: “People keep saying that to me. I don’t really care about that (missing out on going second), if I’m honest. Every defeat hurts, trust me. Doesn’t matter whether you lose with ten men, you lose with eleven men, or you can go second, or you can go whatever. It makes no difference.
“I’ll tell you when it would’ve hurt if we could’ve gone second. If it were the last game of the season, it would hurt then because there’s nothing I can do about it. We’ve got eight games left. We were never going to win anything today, and we were never going to lose anything today. Have we lost a little bit of ground? Yeah. Part of that’s on us. Part of that’s on decisions that unfortunately went against us today.”
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