Coventry City boss Frank Lampard is looking forward to making his first visit as a manager to “old fashioned” Fratton Park – after so many enjoyable past trips as a player.
“It’s a great football stadium,” Lampard told BBC CWR, ahead of Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off between Portsmouth and the Sky Blues.
“One of the old ones that has that bit of character about it. I played there a few times. And you always felt the atmosphere of the stadium.
“It’s an old-fashioned stadium – but it’s nice to have a few of those still around.
“That’s part of the game when you go to these stadiums. The players understanding that, if you give their fans what they want, they’ll be active and affect the game.
“I felt that as a player and that’s on us to try to take that away from them.”
It is something Lampard did very successfully in his Chelsea days.
In six separate visits, he was on the winning side each time – and scored three goals.
Chelsea did not concede a goal in any of them. And, for three of those six wins, Frank’s Uncle Harry Redknapp was the home manager.
No such family ties exist this time round. But, after two victories in his first four games as Sky Blues boss, he’d clearly love to keep up that winning Fratton Park record.