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Coventry City are finally back in the big time for the first time in a generation. After 25 years away, a period during which the club changed stadiums, hit financial rock bottom and plummeted to the depths of League Two as recently as 2017-18, manager Frank Lampard has led them to the promised land, with this 1-1 draw sealing a famous promotion.

The Sky Blues struggled to find a way past Blackburn for much of this tense evening and went behind to Ryoya Morishita’s strike, before Bobby Thomas blew the lid off the away end at Ewood Park with a header that will go down in Coventry folklore. The Premier League is calling once again.

For Lampard there is an element of personal vindication. Having been shunned from the top flight after poor spells in charge of Chelsea and Everton, the former England international has rebuilt himself in the Championship. Now he is a bona fide Coventry legend.

The fans had come in numbers, more than 7,000 packing out the Darwen End clutching sky blue balloons, primed to witness history. Many of them would not have been born the last time Coventry played in the Premier League. The goalscorer, Thomas, was born midway through that 2000-01 season and was four months old the last time Coventry featured in the top flight.

Lampard’s men have led the Championship from the front, their charge to promotion only briefly halted by recent goalless draws against Hull and Sheffield Wednesday. A point was all that was required in Lancashire to seal it; now the celebrations will continue until at least Tuesday night when Portsmouth come to Coventry.

Buoyed up by the raucous travelling contingent, Lampard’s men duly made a quick start. Ephron Mason-Clark’s shot was parried away by Blackburn’s Balazs Toth after an early surge forward, before Milan van Ewijk’s long throw sparked a melee in the box, with the home side scrambling clear.

There was a chance here, for Blackburn to poop the Coventry party. Of greater urgency for the hosts, of course, was their own fight for survival, having started the game four points clear of the bottom three but having played a game more.

Whatever their incentive, Rovers started to play, enjoying the better of the first half, after which they were applauded off. Yuki Ohashi ought to have done better with a header after a fine cross from Ryan Alebiosu, but the striker nodded straight at Carl Rushworth. Ohashi later smacked the bar with a similar effort but was penalised for a slight push.

With Ryoya Morishita pulling the strings from the inside right channel, Michael O’Neill’s side continued to try to upset the league leaders. Jack Rudoni hit the side netting but it was evident, after back-to-back stalemates going into this game, Coventry had suddenly grown goal-shy, perhaps sensing the champagne was on ice.

How to pop open the cork? That would be a question for Lampard to answer at half-time, although Mason-Clark might have stolen a 1-0 lead just before the break after ghosting in at the back post and bundling wide.

“We’re on our way to the Premier League”, was the preferred song of the Coventry faithful throughout the evening but this performance was hardly one of a top-tier team in waiting, a poor imitation of the side who have ripped a course through the Championship.

When Morishita poked home Blackburn’s opener on 53 minutes, after good work from Alebiosu, it felt more than merited. It seemed initially as though the chance on the break had eluded Blackburn, but Morishita showed great anticipation to finish via a nick off Coventry’s Thomas.

Whether it would prove only a scare for Lampard’s champions-elect, or a genuine bump in the road as this stage remained to be seen, though the 7,000 away fans were becalmed, fearing a wasted journey. Few sides in the Championship can afford to leave their two top scorers on the bench, and in Haji Wright and Brandon Thomas-Asante – 28 goals between them this season – Lampard had some trump cards to play. He was duty bound to respond to the home fans’ jibes of “Premier League, you’re having a laugh” and sent on Wright, Romain Esse and Victor Torp after 62 minutes. Rudoni hit the post with a glancing header on 70 minutes, with Thomas-Asante introduced soon after.

Yet as they flooded forward, Lampard changing shape and sacrificing a centre-back in Joel Latibeaudiere for three attack-minded players, more gaps appeared at the back.

Then came the moment for Coventry as Thomas nodded in from Torp’s free-kick to spark bedlam. Light blue flares were launched on to the pitch, fans heartily flung scarves and flags into the sky, while Lampard could barely contain himself on the touchline. Having watched their team flatter to deceive for much of the evening, this was the moment those fans had come for. They will savour it for some time.