'Different outcome': Coventry City figure comments on Burnley defeat and Frank Lampard's red card
Coventry City assistant Joe Edwards felt his side’s narrow defeat to Burnley could easily have been a “different outcome” after going “toe-to-toe” with the new league leaders.
The Clarets claimed a hugely significant victory in their quest for automatic promotion thanks to Jaidon Anthony’s brace.
Scott Parker’s men had to come from behind to claim the three points after Haji Wright gave Coventry an early lead in controversial circumstances.
After battling back to lead, the Clarets had to withstand huge swathes of pressure to hold on for the win, which took them to the top of the Championship table after Sheffield United’s surprise defeat at Oxford United.
A feisty encounter ended with Coventry boss Frank Lampard being sent off at the final whistle after confronting the referee. That meant his number two Edwards was on post-match press duties.
“It’s frustrating when you’re involved in mistakes that lead to goals,” he said.
“But I think the positive we have to take from it is that we've gone up against a top team in the division. We spoke before the game about this potentially being a chance for us to put a marker down. I think it's clear to everyone that the top three this season, Sheffield United, Leeds and Burnley, they’ve been a standout and are the breakaway three.
“We wanted to come here and really give them a game and I think they got that. If you look at the overall course of the game, the chances were limited to them, which is a big positive.
“Unfortunately part of football that we see, particularly at this stage of the season when games get quite tense because there's a lot on it, sometimes when two teams cancel each other out games can be decided by mistakes. That’s how it was.
“There's real disappointment in the dressing room. But I think very quickly, when we get back together, there will be a belief to be taken from that game, for how much we went toe to toe with clearly one of the best teams in the division.
“When you're playing against a top side, the big thing you're then focusing on and questioning is the response. But I thought it was outstanding, because immediately we got back on the ball, we took the initiative in the game. For the remaining 30 minutes of the game, a lot of it's being played in their half.
“On another day when we're knocking on the door, it could be a different outcome.”
Asked why Lampard had been sent off, Edwards added: “I don’t know, something has obviously happened at the end of the game down in the corner of the pitch. I stayed by the benches so didn’t see or hear what happened.
“I just came in and the guys said that Frank had been sent off and obviously that’s why I am sitting here now.
“Frank has been punished so obviously the last thing I am going to do is get punished as well by talking too much about it.”