Coventry City moved one step closer to qualifying for the Premier League with a 3-2 win over Derby, with Jack Rudoni scoring twice on his return from injury.
The Rams were a tough opponent for Coventry, twice chasing the Championship leaders, but Redoni, who came off the bench in the 62nd minute, scored the second of his two goals with 10 minutes remaining.
The midfielder has been sidelined since February 28 and had a devastating impact as Coventry won eight of their nine league games.
The victory puts Coventry 11 points clear at the top of the table and means they need just eight points from their remaining six games to secure a return to the Premier League.
Coventry got off to a perfect start with Frank Onyeka firing a fine shot from on target, but a sensational cross from Matt Clark was headed home by Ben Brereton Dias to equalize.
Lampard, who led Derby to the Championship play-off final in 2019, made a triple sub just after the hour mark and delivered four minutes later.
Both teams wasted chances until Rudoni showed his technique in firing home from 15 yards.
But Derby continued to ask questions and were awarded a penalty after Breton Dias was adjudged to have been fouled by Carl Rushworth, despite the goalkeeper touching the ball.
Breton Dias converted a penalty, but just three minutes later Rudoni scored again, giving the home fans a sign that they had won the league.
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Jack Rudoni’s “fantastic” finish gave Coventry a third win against Derby.
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Frank Lampard of Coventry:
“You don’t always get nights like this or results like this and this season has had a lot of that so I hope we enjoy it while we can.
“Now they can enjoy it and they’re a big part of what we’re doing here and the fans are great.
“Both teams played a great game of football and we came out on top.
“It was a great night of football. I really enjoyed the game. There were elements that I didn’t like and there were elements that I really liked.
“But we won. This team has character.”
John Eustace of Derby:
“I thought we were great, we were really happy to come to the best team in the league and perform as we did.
“It showed a good sign for us. We missed a couple of guys, but we certainly didn’t let anyone down.
“We started well before they scored, but we showed great character and fought back.
“It’s disappointing to lose. The three goals we conceded were all sloppy and if we had been more calm we could have scored a few more.”
“There are six big games coming up, so I want to be well prepared.”
