Mason Mount is shaking off Frank Lampard favouritism claims with each passing game

He's only in the England squad because he plays for Chelsea.

He must be Frank Lampard's son. How else do you explain all his minutes?

Mason Mount has had to hear some ridiculous criticisms in his young career. He's a victim of his style as he doesn't exactly set the stats sheet on fire, and for a lot of fans, that's the only thing that matters.

With Mount, you're not going to a get Lampard-esque numbers of goals, and he's not going to be threatening the Premier League assist record anytime soon, but importantly, the only people that actually seem to care about that are a select group of fans.

The England international has always had the support of Lampard and Gareth Southgate, and current boss Thomas Tuchel has already confessed his love for Mount. Finally, it seems like fans are coming to terms with his class as well.

It's hard to pin-point exactly when Mount started to win over his detractors, but it was towards the end of Lampard's reign that the midfielder's desire to lead by example became clear. Amid reports that some of the senior players had thrown their toys out of the pram with Lampard, Mount stood tall.

Week in and week out, you'd find Mount running his heart out, trying to drag Chelsea through their tough patch almost single-handedly at times. Fans have seen the senior Blues give up all too often in the past, so Mount's willingness to step up and give his all came as a breath of fresh air.

All of a sudden, all the little things Mount does started to get the attention they deserve.

His high press. His physicality. His intricate footwork. His leadership. His ability to play on the half-turn. His desire to drive the team forwards. It all became clear, and the doubters started to realise that maybe Lampard, Southgate and everyone else who has stood in Mount's corner might just have had a point or two.

For the first time in the Tuchel reign, Mount forced himself into centre-stage in the recent 1-1 draw with Southampton. He could see that Timo Werner, Marcos Alonso, Mateo Kovacic and the rest of Chelsea's top performers weren't at the races, but Mount would not let the team go down without a fight.

Every touch of the ball was designed to push Chelsea forward. Whether he was dribbling past players with ease or spraying passes around the pitch, Mount was at the heart of everything positive Chelsea did. Unsurprisingly, it was Mount who won the penalty, and it was Mount who scored it.

He is the heart and soul of Chelsea these days. Nobody's blood is more blue than his, and finally, it seems as though supporters are united on just how special this young midfielder is.

That enthusiasm was echoed by Chelsea favourite Joe Cole, who joined in the questioning of Mount's doubters ahead of the game on BT Sport.

"Mason Mount is one of life's mysteries how people could criticise him for playing so much," Cole said (via the Daily Mail). "He played so much for Frank not because he's a nice lad, which he is, but because he's a top top player.

"Tuchel's come in, he was out of the team in the first game, Tuchel's a clever man and realised this kid is a proper player. He epitomises what Chelsea's all about. I told him off-air when things weren't going well for Frank, some of the players weren't standing up and pushing their chest out, his levels stayed the same and tried to drive the team.

"That's a massive sign of maturity and that's why Frank gave him the captain's armband right at the end. He'll go on to be one of the top players in Chelsea's history, he's that good."

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