Despite leading the Championship, 2026 hasn’t been kind to Frank Lampard’s Coventry City, with the Sky Blues taking only 11 points from eight matches played in the new year. But in a massive clash atop the table with Middlesbrough, the hottest team in the division, American striker Haji Wright showed that he has what it takes to push for automatic promotion to the Premier League by emerging as a hat trick hero in a 3-1 victory to stay in the drivers seat for winning the Championship after last season’s disappointment left Coventry within seconds of a place in the promotion playoff final.
Being knocked out by Sunderland via a Dan Ballard goal in the 122nd minute of extra time has only motivated the Sky Blues to avoid needing the playoff altogether. Wright’s form has been an important part of that. He’s now up to 13 goals and one assist in Championship play while securing his first hat trick of the season and second as a member of Coventry City. Wright is also only two goals behind Swansea City’s Zan Vipotnik for the Championship Golden Boot race. A striker who has scored 12 or more goals in five consecutive seasons, Wright is becoming the picture of consistency while finding a true home with Coventry after stops in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Turkiye along the way.
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Taking a look at the shot map from the match last weekend, it’s clear how involved Wright was, as his expected goals of 1.5 were higher than Middlesbrough’s entire team xG of 1.08, and without Wright, Coventry’s attack struggled to generate chances in the match — not that they needed many.
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Considering timing, there’s almost no better moment for Wright to find his form. He now has five goals in 2026 as he looks to lead Coventry to the Premier League for the first time since the 2000-01 season while also pushing for a spot on the United States World Cup squad after being a surprise inclusion in 2022. Friendlies facing Belgium and Portugal are right around the corner at the end of March, and Wright is making sure that USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino won’t be able to leave him out of the squad.
Wright’s first goal was created by his movement as he made it easy for Jack Rudoni to pick out a run before making no mistake, slotting it past Middlesbrough keeper Solomon Brynn.
The second was one that showed off his finishing chops. Getting on the run and doing something that he enjoys, playing on the back shoulder of the defense, Wright knew that he had the chance to beat the defense before delivering a devastating finish to double the lead for his side.
He’d complete the day from the penalty spot for the hat trick, securing all three points. There’s plenty left to do but 32 games into the season, the Sky Blues have a six-point lead for automatic promotion although Ipswich Town have two games in hand which could see them draw within two points of Lampard’s men. In all, 14 matches remain in the season so we’re fully in the home stretch and Coventry will need Wright to keep up his form as the Premier League potentially awaits.
