Coventry City handed double blow involving Matt Grimes and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto | OneFootball

Frank Lampard's side came from behind to defeat Derby County 5-3 at Pride Park on Saturday.

Coventry City defeated Derby County 5-3 at Pride Park on Saturday after coming from 3-2 down, but have been dealt a fresh injury blow to two key players in the form of Matt Grimes and winger Tatsuhiro Sakamoto.

The Sky Blues began their season with a goalless draw at home to Hull City on the opening day, followed by an eight-goal thriller against Derby, where they emerged victorious after three goals in seven minutes late in the conteest.

Notably, the City starting lineup saw the absence of Japanese winger Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, as Brandon Thomas-Asante started on the right-hand side instead of him.

Meanwhile, Matt Grimes limped off following the final whistle. The former Swansea City captain's injury record is superb, having played at least 44 Championship matches each season for the last seven years, so concerns have been raised about seeing him hobble off.

Despite this, Grimes played the full 90 minutes at Derby, whilst Sakamoto missed out on the matchday squad entirely after picking up an injury during the week in training.

Frank Lampard provides a fresh injury update concerning Matt Grimes and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto

When asked about Sakamoto's absence following the match, Lampard said: "He picked up a small groin (strain) on Thursday. So he felt some awareness and we’re hoping he’ll be back before the international break, but possibly the other side."

This is not ideal news for the Sky Blues, nor Sakamoto, who only missed two Championship games last season as Coventry reached the play-off final, narrowly losing out to Sunderland.

The international break is set to commence following Coventry's game away to Oxford United on 30th August, with Championship action set to return two weeks after that on 13th September, so Coventry fans will hope the 28-year-old isn't out for too long.

In terms of Grimes, when asked about why he was hobbling off at full-time, Lampard said: A gash on his shin; it was a wound.

"Grimesy is a fantastic footballer but today we had men running into our back four, being in front of Carlton Morris trying to head it in battle and get the next one because that’s what Derby create as a game, and I thought Grimesy did it brilliantly and he took a war wound from it," Lampard revealed.

"I’ve seen the gash, whether it needs stitches or not I don’t know but Grimesy is a player that doesn’t really go down or stay down. It’s obviously an injury, but a gash and hopefully we’ve got a bit of time with that to recover through the week."

The Sky Blues host Queens Park Rangers in their next Championship fixture next Saturday, and look set to enter that fixture without Sakamoto, whilst they await to see if Grimes can recover in time.

If history is anything to go off by, Grimes will most likely recover in time for the match, but nevertheless, Sky Blues fans will be crossing their fingers just in case.

Thomas-Asante, who prodded in the equaliser against Derby to make it 3-3, is a more than capable replacement at this level. However, Sakamoto has made that right-forward spot his own since joining two years ago, and Lampard will no doubt feel his absence.

Victor Torp partnered Grimes in midfield against Derby, with Ben Sheaf and Josh Eccles having suffered injury setbacks which left them out of contention for this fixture.

Lampard will be hoping his midfield doesn't receive another injury blow to Grimes as his midfield options deplete.

However, neither injury sounds like it will keep either player out for too long as Coventry look to carry the momentum from last season into this one and aim for a play-off place once again.