Coventry City news from CoventryLive as Frank Lampard opens up about French duo in his pre-match press conference ahead of Fulham

Frank Lampard insists there’s no “drama” behind the omission of summer signings Loum Tchaouna and Yann Gboho from Coventry City’s matchday squad.

The French forwards, who signed for the Sky Blues for a combined £30m just a few short months ago, were conspicuous by their absence on the teamsheet at Tottenham on Monday night, while Tchaouna also didn’t feature in the previous squad against Newcastle United when Gboho was an unused sub.

Neither are injured amid rumours of sulking and turning up late for training. But asked about their situation, Lampard explained: “They’re training and they’re fit and I think they’re adapting to how we are, how we play, how we train and the ideas, so it’s very normal.

“Yann came in on the last day of the transfer window, even beyond that because it was protracted for a few more days. He also went over to the Ivory Coast on international duty, which is great. But the players have been working in a certain way for a long time here and Yann has adapted fine. He’s got talent, that’s for sure, and that’s that. I have a squad to pick and sometimes it’s not easy to pick. It’s the hardest part of my job.”

He added: “And Loum, similarly, has to understand what we want on the pitch, off the pitch, on the ball, off the ball, as every player does. So we’re working towards that and that’s it.”

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The City boss insisted that both are receiving backing to get to where they need to, saying: “The players should all know that there’s absolute support from us for them, individually, and in training to drive it, to understand the standards that we demand. Hopefully they do know that and we’re there for them on that because we want to get better.”

He added: “I have no favourites in terms of when I pick my team. It’s what’s the best team, what are the best substitutions and sometimes with 24 fit players for 18, 19 positions it’s very, very hard. If you weren’t asking me about them, you’d be asking me about Tatsu or Ephron, or you’d be asking about Ellis or Sidi.

“These are difficult decisions and sometimes there’s not the drama that you might think or people assume to be the case.”

Asked if the players have a bit more pressure on them because of their fees – Tchaouna joining for £19.6m from Burnley and Gboho for £10.3m from Toulouse, Lampard said: “Maybe, yeah that’s true. I remember that as a player because it happened to me and it’s an underlying thing. But I think that’s fine.

“All the players need to know from me, whether it be a player who came for a big amount of money or a player that came through the academy, if they train well and deserve to be in the team, in my eyes, in my opinion – and that’s obviously important – then they will get there, regardless.

“I’ve been in these situations as a coach of signing players at Chelsea for £75m and £50m and the idea that they come in and then they’re straight in the team because of that tag is not right. Maybe it’s not right for the player as much as it’s not right for myself or the team.

“They need to adapt a little bit. This league is hard. I keep saying it every week so the players are there and they’re fine. They will train for us. We want the most from them and we want them to succeed at Coventry.

“They should absolutely feel that but sometimes they just have to make decisions and drive the group as well and they fall in that (category).”