Frank Lampard backs Mason Mount to again silence his critics after his first prolonged spell of poor form in his Chelsea career.
The 24-year-old has lost the automatic starter status he claimed since Frank Lampard gave him his Chelsea debut in 2019.
This season the midfielder has increasingly been left out for Joao Felix under Graham Potter’s spell in charge. He then developed a niggling abdominal injury and has faced the distraction of fraught contract negotiations with the new owners.
Speaking ahead of Mount’s possible return to his starting line up against Brighton, caretaker manager Lampard is backing the reigning two-time Chelsea player of the season to prove people wrong again: “If anyone thinks Mason Mount is not already a top-level player then I’m not sure what they’re seeing.
“Form is one thing that people can debate. There’s players now that get debated about more than we were in my career. It’s partly social media.
“But from working with Mason, you can ask me, you can ask Thomas Tuchel, you can ask Gareth Southgate, you can ask Graham Potter, it’s clear he’s a top player and he does have a big affiliation with the club.
“One thing I know about Mason, the first thing a top player should have is a real hunger to succeed and play and do well for Chelsea and he’s had that since the first day. He’s still a young player. He can go even further but he’s already a top player.”
Chelsea are currently on a five-game winless run and haven’t scored in the last four games, their worst barren run since December 1993.
Mount, who got the most combined goals and assists for Chelsea last season, could make a difference and saw a shot blocked in the dying moments of Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid.
Lampard is now trying to reintroduce the England international ahead of the crucial Champions League second leg on Tuesday but believes he is over his injury problems.
He added: “He’s had his small injury problem. He felt ok in the game the other day. I thought he did as good a job as he could with him and Conor coming in to help us close out a game with 10 men.
“I think there’s a little process over the next game or two of getting Mason to where we want him to be. Fingers crossed the injury’s fine.”
Lampard admitted he ring the changes this weekend due to the importance of the upcoming European match that could save the 11th-place Premier League side from a truly dismal season.
Lampard confirmed, however, that he won’t change his goalkeepers by dropping Kepa Arrizabalaga for Edouard Mendy, adding: “I don’t see any reason to do any different at the moment.
“Kepa’s performances and maturity naturally, I maybe matured as a coach as I’ve come back, he’s matured as a player and I think he has been in good form and Edou has had a couple of injuries.
“He’s still carrying a small one at the moment so the position as you see it doesn’t change and now judging anything on my previous time at the club as opposed to what’s in front of me now.”
