"I absolutely love that Leicester City are going straight back down" - Coventry City view given as Foxes face EFL return | OneFootball

FLW's Coventry City fan pundit has given his verdict on Leicester City returning to the Championship next season

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Coventry City will be facing rivals Leicester City in the Championship next season if they aren’t promoted under Frank Lampard.

The Foxes have yet to be officially relegated, but Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side are set to return to the second division at the first of asking after a dismal campaign.

However, the Sky Blues are in the mix for a play-off place, and stand a chance at returning to the Premier League for the first time since 2001.

But if they fall short, then their consolation prize will be the return of their rivalry with Leicester in the coming campaign.

Importance of Coventry/Leicester rivalry

When asked about Leicester’s return to the Championship, FLW’s Coventry fan pundit Chris Deez claimed it’s the most important derby to supporters compared to other rivalries they have.

He is looking forward to competing against the Foxes, suggesting that Van Nistelrooy’s team have actually been the worst in the division despite sitting 19th in the table.

“I’m sure I speak for a lot of Coventry fans when I say I absolutely love that Leicester City are going straight back down,” Deez told Football League World.

“There are very few rivalries I care about in football, I’ve never really been bothered about the Birmingham or Aston Villa rivalries, or any of the other local teams like Stoke and Derby or Forest.

“But Leicester is the big one.

“They hate us much more than we hate them, let’s be honest, it’s a bit of a weird one, but I absolutely love seeing the way that they’ve fallen apart this season.

“They’ve ended up with more points than Southampton, but I can confidently say that they have been worse than Southampton.

“The bottom of the table sort of lies a little bit.

“In a sense, it’s a little bit disappointing to see the three teams go up and come straight back down again, but that’s the gulf in quality now, the gulf in finances, it’s probably just going to keep going for the next few seasons.”

Leicester clash is the biggest game of the season

Deez believes the two games against Leicester will be the biggest of the season for Coventry next year, and that he’s confident of doing the double over them under Lampard.

“I will say, I was very happy for Leicester when they won the Premier League, it was an incredible story, winning the FA Cup and everything that happened under Ranieri, getting to the Champions League,” he continued.

“But they’re a very strange set of fans, who have hated us and hated us and hated us so much more than we’ve hated them, they care so much more about that rivalry.

“It will absolutely be our biggest game next season, the key date to look out for on the calendar when the fixtures are put out.

“Last time around, it went really well for us, we lost to them first game of the season but then we went down our end and stuffed them, so it’s one of them fixtures we always look forward to.

“And I’m pretty confident under Lampard and the way that we’re playing that we could probably do the double over them next season.”

Coventry are currently sixth in the Championship table, two points clear of seventh place Middlesbrough with five games remaining.

Coventry and Leicester rivalry hasn’t been explored much recently

Besides the two league games against each other last year, Coventry haven’t had the opportunity to play against Leicester many times in the last decade.

While the Foxes were winning the Premier League, the Sky Blues were struggling in League One and League Two.

The 3-1 win against Leicester last season was Coventry’s first victory in this rivalry since 2008, so they will get two chances to ensure the wait for the next win isn’t as long.

Both clubs will be in similar positions in the Championship next year, provided Lampard’s side don’t get promoted, so it will be a good chance for them to compete directly head-to-head in the league.