Frank Lampard admits that he and Coventry City are starting to prepare for Premier League football from infrastructure to recruitment. But the Sky Blues boss, who was this week linked with interest in a summer loan move for young Chelsea winger Jesse Derry , insists he’s totally focused on getting the Championship club over the line – City needing one more point from Friday night’s match at Blackburn Rovers to mathematically confirm promotion to the top flight. Once that’s secured Lampard wants to push for the league title, which is just six points away if City win their next two games (Blackburn and Portsmouth), or sooner if Ipswich drop points again this weekend. FOLLOW ON FACEBOOK! Get more Coventry City news and analysis via our FB page Asked about the reports linking him with 18-year-old Derry and, more broadly, how far along he and the club are with planning the team he wants to assemble for next season in the Premier League, and money that might be available, he said: “Not that far, if I’m honest, because of the jeopardy of the season. “I know it feels like in the last week or so things have felt more apparent but at the same time, me personally, I’ve been focussing on the job in hand.” City are effectively assured an automatic promotion place by virtue of a plus 33 goal difference over third placed Millwall, with just four games left to play. “I’m not stupid,” added Lampard. “I know that this may happen and there’s a lot of work to do at the football club, whether it be things at the training ground to try and get the levels to what I know is the Premier League, because I’ve been there in different forms. So those are all things that the football club has to really broach quickly, and we’re all aware of that. “But in terms of individual players, I’m not saying all those rumours (about Jesse Derry) are false, but they’re definitely not true as a fact. “And that’s one of the difficult things now in football, recruitment, because you’re as good as it, to a degree, because you need good players. And I think the club has done a really good job in terms of that at where we are in the Championship because you can see where we are in terms of what we spend etc. “It’s not a parachute team but we’ve had our way of doing it and that’s going to change this summer, if we get to where we want to get to because the level will go up. So there’s a lot of work to be done but the rumours that are whirling around now, I wouldn’t hold too much to them, with respect.” Every day, the CoventryLive football desk strive to deliver all manner of news, features and transfer-related stories as a part of our overall package of Coventry City content. Our dedicated reporter Andy Turner – who you can follow on X – follows the Sky Blues home and away and offers you comprehensive coverage from matchdays, press conferences and everything that happens in between. So much happens day to day and sometimes you can struggle to keep on top of the very latest updates as and when they occur – that’s why we have produced a daily newsletter which you can sign up to, for free, and which means you’ll have a round-up of the key stories land in your email inbox. You can also get all your favourite content from CoventryLive’s Sky Blues team on WhatsApp. Sign up for breaking updates about the biggest stories in and around the club.
True or false – Frank Lampard addresses Jesse Derry rumours ahead of summer building
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