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Coventry City take on Sunderland in the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final this week, live on talk SPORT. The Sky Blues have been one of the best teams in the second division since Frank Lampard replaced Mark Robins, and the Black Cats stand between them and a place at Wembley. Coventry have won 16 of the 29 league games they've played under Lampard and will want to take a healthy lead to the North East for the second leg. Meanwhile, Regis Le Bris' side have known they would be in the play-offs for weeks. However, their form has dropped off a cliff in the closing parts of the season, losing five in a row and picking up one win in seven. Once it was nailed on that Sunderland would be in the play-offs and couldn't be promoted automatically, Le Bris decided to start rotating the team. This meant that a lot of the regular starters were given rests ahead of the play-offs. Undoubtedly, this has contributed to their dramatic loss of form in April. It will be justified if Sunderland beat Coventry and also are successful in the play-off final. However, should they not be promoted, questions will be asked over why the manager decided to change his team so much. The hosts are without their first-choice goalkeeper Oliver Dovin, so Ben Wilson is likely to start. Ephron Mason-Clarke and Norman Bassette are also injured. Victor Torp has an ankle problem, and he will be watching from the sidelines. Meanwhile, Sunderland are without Romain Mundle and Ian Poveda. Jayden Danns has yet to play for the club since joining them on loan from Liverpool in January due to a back issue. Coventry owner Doug King has praised Lampard's work as manager. Speaking to talk SPORT, he said: “I think he went very quickly after finishing a long career into management. “To get Derby where he got them was a pretty epic achievement, that game to win the semi-final of the playoffs away at Leeds, and then he was thrust into the big time at a big club, lots going on, that's quite wild for your first goes into management and then obviously off to Everton back to Chelsea. “For me, it was a very whirlwind, and I think probably that makes you learn many things and how you might do things differently and a bit of a break to reassess it all. “I like successful people, but I like successful people to have some knocks and some failures because they learn and they do things differently and they mature and I just felt when I met him, he was putting himself back out again, into the arena, and I think he doesn't need to financially. "But he wanted it and he has a point to prove, and I think he's proving it. ” This Championship play-off semi-final first leg is set to take place on Friday, May 9. Kick-off at the Coventry Building Society Arena is scheduled for 8pm. talk SPORT will have live coverage from the Midlands, with Hugh Woozencroft serving as your presenter. Commentary will then come from Jim Proudfoot and former West Ham striker Dean Ashton. To tune in to talk SPORT through the website,  click HERE for the live stream. You can also listen via the talk SPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM. talk SPORT. com will also have all the reaction. © 2025 talk SPORT Limited

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