Coventry 1-4 Ipswich: Jack Clarke scores brace as Kieran McKenna's side progress to FA Cup fifth round

Frank Lampard has done much to rekindle Coventry’s Wembley dreams during his brief tenure in the West Midlands but, after this thumping FA Cup defeat at the hands of Ipswich, those hopes will now have to rest on reaching the play-offs. There is to be no repeat of their semi-final heroics and heartbreak of last year under Mark Robins after Jack Clarke scored twice and set up another to send the Tractor Boys into the fifth round for the first time since 2007.

Ipswich showed their Premier League quality when it mattered in this all-action Cup tie as George Hirst also netted from the spot after two minutes before new signing Jaden Philogene completed the rout. Lampard’s side never let their spirits drop, having first equalised through Joel Latibeaudiere while Brandon Thomas-Asante also had a goal ruled out for offside. Widespread dismay met the decision to sack Mark Robins in November after eight years in charge, the man who led them from League Two to the Championship and a play-off final penalty shootout away from a place in the Premier League.

Nothing changes a mood quite like results, though, and seven wins in Lampard’s first 14 league games has taken Coventry from 17th in the Championship and two points above the relegation zone and four points outside the play-offs. Jack Clarke scored a brace as Ipswich won 4-1 against Coventry in the FA Cup fourth round. Clarke scores his second goal of the game as he helped Ipswich to overcome Coventry.

George Hirst put Ipswich in front from the penalty spot as he scored in the second minute. Two home defeats on the bounce, albeit to quality opposition in league leaders Leeds and now Premier League outfit Ipswich, won’t do too much for morale but even in the face of such a hefty scoreline, Coventry showed enough fight and spirit and flashes of quality to suggest their bid for the top-flight could go down to the wire.

Coventry: Dovin, Latibeaudiere, Thomas, Binks, Kitching, Allen, Eccles, Rudoni, Dasilva, Sakamoto, Thomas-Asante. Ipswich: Palmer, Godfrey, Woolfenden, Burgess, Townsend, Phillips, Taylor, Philogene, Szmodics, Clarke, Hirst. For Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna, who changed all 11 players for the game, it was the ideal response to an unwanted home defeat to relegation rivals Southampton last time out. Congestion outside the CBS arena caused the game to be delayed by 10 minutes but, once under way, it took the visitors just 20 seconds to make up for lost time.

Sam Szmodics carried the ball into the box, Coventry centre-back Liam Kitching bundled him to the ground and referee Ben Toner pointed to the spot before Hirst rolled in his first goal since October in his first start since returning from a knee injury to give Ipswich the lead. Coventry responded well, though, and the impressive Jack Rudoni’s superb delivery from set-plays caused problems. His inswinging corner found Latibeaudiere, who glanced the ball into the far corner to level after eight minutes.

There was little, really, to separate the sides in the first half but, by the end of the opening period, it was two moments of quality that proved the difference. Clarke cut inside from the left and drifted past his marker on to his right foot before firing a low shot into the far corner for his first of the afternoon just before the half-hour mark. Nathan Broadhead had replaced the injured Szmodics on 35 minutes and made an instant impact. Two minutes later, Clarke had a second and Ipswich a third.

Joel Latibeaudiere celebrates after his goal pulled Coventry level against Ipswich. Jaden Philogene added further gloss to the scoreline for Ipswich with a goal in the secon half. Kieran McKenna's side have now made it through to the fifth round of the FA Cup. There was frustration for Coventry boss Frank Lampard as his team were knocked out. Coventry defender Luis Binks played out from the back but could only find Ben Godfrey. The January loan signing played the ball straight to Broadhead, who took a lovely touch and turn just outside the area to play a smart pass into Clarke and the former Sunderland man had the easiest job of poking it home from close range.

Still, though, Lampard’s men would not lie down. At the start of the second half, Tatsushiro Sakamoto burst forward and nearly nestled a shot into the bottom corner but was denied by a smart save from new signing Alex Palmer in the Ipswich goal. This was a belter of a tie. Clarke almost had a third only to be denied by a fine last-ditch tackle by Binks. Brandon Thomas-Asante fired over from inside the box for Coventry before Philogene, a January signing from Aston Villa, forced a save from Dovin.