FOOTBALL – Jack Rudoni believes he is ready to play in the Premier League with Coventry City ahead of play-offs

JACK Rudoni believes he is capable of playing in the Premier League with Coventry City ahead of the club’s Championship play-off semi-final first leg against Sunderland.

Rudoni has enjoyed a remarkable first season with the Sky Blues, scoring nine goals and providing 12 assists.

And the influential midfielder scored twice on the final day of the season to secure Coventry a place in the play-offs.

With the Sky Blues potentially just three games away from securing promotion, Rudoni feels he is ready to test himself in the Premier League with Coventry next season.

Rudoni said: “I’ve always believed I have the ability, and I’ve always believed I’m capable to play in the Premier League, I’ve thought that from the start of the season and it’s just the way I think.

“It’s good that I can show my qualities and have a really good season in the Championship, and I believe in myself and hopefully we can get there and play Premier League football next season.

“We’re all confident and in big games I feel it’s where I like to thrive, and it gives me more of a buzz than pressure.

“We’ve had a couple of big games recently against play-off rivals and we’ve been strong, and we’ve come out on top, so it gives us confidence, but I think we had the confidence anyway.

“We’re looking forward to it, working hard and we will go out there and give our everything into it.”

The 23-year-old admits he has learned a lot from Lampard since his appointment as Sky Blues head coach back in November.

And Rudoni insists there is no one better to work with on the training pitch than Lampard.

Rudoni added: “He came in and brought a real structure to the team and we stopped giving away silly goals.

“The structure of the team is really important, and he gives us clarity and we know the game plan and exactly what we’re doing, and we just have to carry it out, we practice it on the training pitch.

“He gives us forward players a bit of license to go and create and win games and that’s what we’ve been doing.

“I’ve learnt a lot, even in the short time working with him.

“I think it’s been said in other interviews that me and him work together on the pitch and he helps me with goalscoring and getting into the areas and different types of finishes.

“There is no one better to work with, especially for that and it’s just good that it’s coming out in the games and I’m reaping the rewards of the work on the training pitch.”

Coventry host Sunderland in the first leg of the Championship play-off semi-finals on Friday, May 9 with kick-off at 8pm at the CBS Arena.