Frank Lampard reacts to overdue first Chelsea win
Chelsea caretaker boss Frank Lampard has admitted it was immediately clear upon his return to the club the amount of ‘picking up’ that was required in terms of morale and confidence.
The Blues lost six straight games in all competitions after Lampard was appointed in the wake of Graham Potter’s sacking – including home defeats to Brighton and Brentford.
But Chelsea finally stirred into life with a 3-1 win over Bournemouth on Saturday.
Lampard has explained the difficulty of trying to lift the squad when results were still poor.
“It was very evident in the dressing room from coming in that there was a lot of picking up that needed to be done and unfortunately you need results to come in line with that to keep you stepping forward, so that’s been tough. It was a nice small step forward,” he said of the Bournemouth result.
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“The lads are all human, we’re all affected in similar ways when you’re not winning games or you don’t feel at your best and the only way to get through that is to fight and to work through it.
“I’ve been in relative periods where they’re tough, so absolutely they should enjoy tonight and have a beer or have a glass of wine or do whatever they do. But we cannot take our foot of the pedal in terms of trying to take steps forward until the end of this season because it’s important.”
Lampard had earlier told BBC Sport: “There is a lot work to do.”
Chelsea’s win moved them to 11th in the Premier League table, three points adrift of the top half with four games left to play. The Blues finished 10th at the end of the 2015/16 following a late resurgence to somewhat rectify an otherwise disastrous campaign. But they haven’t placed in the bottom half of the Premier League table since 1995/96 when Glenn Hoddle took them to 11th.
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