Lampard stays upbeat as pointless, goalless Coventry search for lift-off

LONDON, Sept 17 - Positivity is not the easiest commodity when your team has lost all four Premier League games without scoring a goal but it remains the mantra for Coventry City manager Frank Lampard and his coaching staff.

Lampard led the Sky Blues back to the top flight for the first time in 25 years by winning the Championship last season, but the opening month has been a stark reality check.

Things reached a worrying low last weekend when Coventry slumped to a 5-0 home defeat by Brighton & Hove Albion while a midweek League Cup exit against Aston Villa hardly helped the mood ahead of Saturday's clash with Nottingham Forest.

"It's our job, it's our job to do it, we have to be the first ones to be positive and focus on the work that we feel we need to do which is forever changing with modern-day squads," Lampard said when asked on Thursday how important it was to avoid negativity creeping in after a tough start.

"We have to focus on fitness and the tactical elements so if we don't have the positive energy then it's going to be very difficult for everyone else.

"We've got a good relationship with the players because we've worked closely with a lot of them and had a lot of success together, so that's a great start and the players that have come in need to understand that and buy into that.

"For any team to succeed at whatever level and whatever context it needs that kind of driven positivity."

The club's fans have remained firmly on board despite a lack of cheer so far, singing until the bitter end of the chastening defeat by Brighton. Lampard said the players must reciprocate by showing the same mentality on the pitch.

"Sometimes it is human nature to feel down but we just have to focus on the work that we have got to do to keep trying to improve, to keep trying to get results," he said. REUTERS