Frank Lampard urges calm after Coventry's breakthrough win at Nottingham Forest

“I hope so, and we have to keep our feet on the ground because it’s one win, and we’ve felt how ruthless the league is already.” Frank Lampard's line, quoted by goal.com, set the tone after Coventry beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 in Nottingham Forest vs Coventry. It was Coventry's first Premier League victory since April 2001, settled by Jay Dasilva, but Lampard was far more interested in what comes after it.

Lampard's message after the breakthrough

Lampard did not treat this as a release of pressure so much as a pause in it. “Every win is a relief, no matter what. I mean, especially in our position, because you sit at the bottom of the table, you want to win because you don’t like to look at it,” he said, quoted by goal.com.

That is a fair reading of where Coventry are. They had lost their first four games before this one, and the win moved them onto 3 points. There is a conflict around their exact post-match league position, with some reports describing them as bottom while other standings place them differently, so the safer ground is the points total rather than the ranking.

What Lampard clearly wanted to protect was the mood inside a squad still adjusting to the division. Speaking to BBC Sport, he said: “For many of them it is their debut in the Premier League, they haven't been here before and they need to feel like they belong and play like that.” That feels central to his reaction. A first win in 25 years is a historic line for the club, but for the manager it looked more like proof that this group can compete at the level.

He made a similar point with another BBC quote: “It is easy to point in different directions when you lose but the group's really strong, really together, there'll have a good feeling from this one. But we'll keep our feet on the ground because it is one win, but it was needed for us.” After a four-defeat start, that balance is probably the right one.

Dasilva's winner and the tense finish

The result itself was still massive. Dasilva's goal settled the game and gave Coventry their first Premier League win of the season. It also came from a player who had only made 3 Premier League appearances for the club and logged 204 league minutes before this match.

Lampard told BBC Sport: “I thought the players were brilliant. The fight, work ethic and togetherness but also the tactical side of it. They dug and fought for each other which is what you need to win a Premier League game.” Given how the game ended, that part of his assessment rings true.

Forest thought they had found a late equaliser through Igor Jesus, only for VAR to rule it out for a foul on Caleb. Earlier in the second half, Bobby Thomas had already made a goal-line clearance to keep Coventry ahead, so this was not a comfortable away win dressed up as drama after the fact. Coventry had to survive it.

There is also some uncertainty around whether this was Coventry's first league goal of the campaign, because match reports have said so while the wider season data does not firmly settle it. The bigger point is less debatable: the goal was enough to end a long wait and give Lampard something practical to build on.

Relief is only useful if Coventry build on it

Lampard's best line may have been the simplest one. “It's been a tough opening for us, so those first Premier League points feel great,” he told BBC Sport.

That gets closer to the real significance of the afternoon than the historical framing alone. Yes, Coventry ended a 25-year wait for a Premier League win. Yes, Dasilva scored the goal that will be remembered. But the manager's reaction was grounded in the early damage already done by four straight defeats and in the need for this squad to believe it belongs.

Coventry left the City Ground with their first three points of the campaign, and Lampard left with the same message he started with: one win, keep your feet on the ground.