Coventry manager Frank Lampard claimed his side’s 2-1 victory against Preston was one of his most pleasing since he took charge.
The Sky Blues were two goals to the good at half-time through Jack Rudoni and Bobby Thomas, and spurred a host of chances to kill the game off before Will Keane halved the deficit.
However, Coventry held on for their seventh win in eight league games to move just a point away from the play-off places.
“Performance-wise I would say it’s one of the best,” said Lampard.
“Although I think the scoreline probably doesn’t quite reflect that, but we all know in the stadium that it probably should have been three or four by the time they scored to give us a difficult 10 minutes.
“We changed the shape today and you could feel the extra attacking player on the pitch and the energy in the team, and the quality.
“We played the first half in their half pretty much, doing all the things we worked on and talked about in the week so it was good. We were playing a difficult team, to be fair, and I was concerned coming into this game because Preston are a difficult team to play against.
“They put balls in the channels and turn you around a lot and sometimes go man to man but they couldn’t press us today because of how well we played, so there are lots of positives.”
The victory also ended Coventry’s Preston hoodoo, a run of 22 league matches without a win against the Lilywhites dating back to September 2007.
Lampard added: “It’s great for the fans. I was aware of it because it was spoken about as soon as I came in, so I know what it is.
“We’re on a good run at the moment so you can feel a good feeling in the stadium anyway, and to do something like that is good for those who have been supporters of the club for a long time. So I am happy for them and happy for the three points.”
Paul Heckingbottom admitted the defeat was probably one game too many for his North End side that have played five times in February, with an upcoming tie against Burnley in the FA Cup to come next weekend.
“There were too many not at the level we’ve been playing today which made it difficult,” admitted Heckingbottom. “It just looked on my eye, a game too far for us. I’d love to have that game back again.”
“We were second best for large parts, I could feel it coming five minutes before their first goal and you’re thinking we need to change something here.
“Before that it was a pretty even game in terms of our threat and their threat, our problem was when we got in behind them the final pass was missing, which meant we didn’t get the opportunities, didn’t get the goal.
“But from the goal onwards I felt we were second best for large portions, I thought if we would have got something out the game it would have just been the spirit and the character of the players.
“We’ve been trying to make changes and manage the group to keep the energy because it’s a big part of how we play and that’s why this next week we’ve got a free week, so we need to use it really well.”
