Coventry City news from CoventryLive as Frank Lampard hails the professionalism and determination of Gus Hamer to get more game time

Frank Lampard insists fan favourite Gus Hamer will get his chance to shine again for Coventry City.

The dynamic midfielder made an exciting return to the club in the summer, re-signing for the Sky Blues for £6m three years after joining Sheffield United for £15m. But the 29-year-old has played a total of just 44 Premier League minutes from four appearances from the bench.

His latest cameo saw him get 12 minutes at Tottenham on Monday night, after which he volunteered to play for Liam Kelly’s Under-21s side hours later on Tuesday lunchtime despite getting home from London in the early hours of the morning.

“He wanted to play. It was a personal decision and I like that,” said Lampard.

“He wanted to play and get minutes because Gus has been used to playing minutes regularly, pretty much, and these days at Coventry from his days at Sheffield United we’ve got a competitive squad now and his area of the pitch is competitive.

“But Gus has been very, very good to work with since he’s come back to us. Myself and my staff have been really, really impressed by his approach, his training, his ethic and what he wants to do. And Gus is going to help us.

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“At the minute we know Rudi’s playing a lot in that position and playing very well. I need that competition in all areas and it’s, again, a hard part when players are not feeling it, but he’s training great and he asked to play and he played, which is good for him in terms of minutes.”

Asked if the fact that he volunteered to play the day after a late night away match shows the character and determination of the player to succeed back at the club he loves, the City boss said: “Yeah, and I’m pleased to say it out loud because it’s important for me, firstly, because when I see that professionalism I know it pays off. It may not pay off tomorrow or the next day but it may pay off in weeks to come and then all of a sudden the player’s in.”

He added: “I sat and watched Arsenal v Bayern Munich last night and I watched Eze come on and score a goal against Munich, having come off at half-time at Nottingham Forest. This is the world that we live in and I think the best players act like Gus is acting at the moment, and support his teammates and doing all the right things.

“And we all know, everyone in the building and at the CBS knows that he’s a really talented player who’s going to help us. So he’s just staying ready, and I’m very pleased with how Gus has been. He’s a good example.”

As for Hamer’s fitness and whether he’s ready, should he be called upon, Lampard insisted: “Yeah.”

Pressed as to whether there’s anything specific he has to work on, the manager added: “No, no. Forever the players have to keep working but in terms of that, no, there’s nothing. I actually enjoyed Gus against Aston Villa. It was a difficult game for us but the reason I bought him was not just because I love Gus as a casual statement, I always loved his effective use of his final pass and his final shot and all the things he can do amongst other stuff.

“And he will offer that for us. We see that in training all the time and it’s, as I say, a case of keep working and he’ll get his chance to show that for us. He’s shown Coventry before anyway.”