Haji Wright restores the faith in Coventry’s Premier League dream with win over Championship title rivals Middlesbrough

Coventry City 3-1 Middlesbrough: Frank Lampard’s side are back on top of the Championship after a crucial vitory over their closest competition SportFootballHaji Wright restores the faith in Coventry’s Premier League dream with win over Championship title rivals MiddlesbroughCoventry City 3-1 Middlesbrough: Frank Lampard’s side are back on top of the Championship after a crucial vitory over their closest competitionLawrence Ostlere at Coventry Building Society Arena Monday 16 February 2026 23:14 GMTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popoveropen image in galleryCoventry’s Haji Wright, left, celebrates scoring their side’s third goal from the penalty spot (Mike Egerton/PA Wire)Your support helps us to tell the storyRead moreSupport NowFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreFrank Lampard barely smiled at the final whistle before embracing Middlesbrough’s beaten manager, Kim Hellberg. Lampard gave his customary three-pump celebration to the far corner of the South Stand, walked a quick victory lap of the pitch with his players and then set off down the tunnel with his hands in his pockets.This 3-1 victory over title rivals Middlesbrough may mean everything in the race for promotion, and may yet mean nothing at all. Coventry are back on top of the Championship but they might not be for long, as Lampard knows, given tricky away games on the horizon. But after a desperate run of two wins in eight, this was a much-needed victory to restore broken faith.Only last Monday, Coventry fans had booed their team after a frustrating 0-0 draw with struggling Oxford United which opened the door for Middlesbrough to usurp them at the top. Supporters grumbled and groaned as Haji Wright missed a platter of headed chances. But a week is a long time in football. Here the giant American’s name reverberated around the ground after a hat-trick that may have altered the course of the campaign. Coventry are back on top and there is belief in the CBS Arena once more after those weeks of worrying downturn to which Lampard didn’t seem to have answers. He had chopped and changed his side, even dropping both centre-backs last week in an effort to reenergise his team. The slick and ruthless Coventry that took charge of the league in the autumn had given way to a slow and turgid team over the winter, lacking their previous edge. open image in galleryFrank Lampard delivers his customary three-punch celebration in front of the Coventry fans (Getty Images)He will hope this win sparks new momentum. Coventry had to ride out plenty of pressure from Hellberg’s free-flowing Boro, who swap positions and make fast connections in tight spaces around the box and generally try to put on a show with the ball. They dominated possession with more than 70 per cent, as they have done in most games since Hellberg took charge, but Riley McGree’s well-taken second-half goal was all they had to show for their attacking endeavour.Perhaps this was a case of an opponent sniffing out how Hellberg likes his team to play. The familiar diagonal passing lanes from full-backs into attack were choked off, like blocked bishops on a chessboard. Boro had most success down the flanks where Tommy Conway frequently peeled into space, but his final pass missed its target and Boro wasted the best opportunities to hurt their hosts. Hellberg was always going to keep the same line-up which dismantled Sheffield United so impressively away from home last week, so the ball was in Lampard’s court: would he throw out the 4-2-3-1 system that had got Coventry to this position but faltered for so long, or would he try something new? Lampard held his nerve, sticking with the same shape, though he made changes by bringing in winger Ephron Mason-Clark and handing Nigeria international Frank Onyeka his debut from the start, having joined on loan from Brentford in January. Hellberg promised Boro were never going to play any other way than their attacking, free-flowing approach that had propelled them to the top of the table, and his players were true to his word. They set up in a notional 4-1-3-2, with Morgan Whittaker and the relentless Conway as split strikers. But Boro’s efforts to liberally pop the ball about in midfield were met with fierce resistance,