Frank Lampard has revealed how Benoit Badiashile and Noni Madueke and keep their place in the Chelsea starting lineup until the end of the season. They both played pivotal roles in the Blues' 3-1 win over Bournemouth at the weekend as the club's winless streak finally came to an end.
The west Londoners headed into the tie without a victory in nine games, while Lampard had lost each of his previous six games as caretaker manager. With Chelsea in desperate need of win, Badiashile and Madueke stepped up to the plate, securing three crucial points.
In an interview with the club's official website, the Blues' interim boss heaped great praise on the youngsters but conceded that he must also consider the other players in the bloated squad. When asked if Badiashile and Madueke deserve to stay in the starting lineup, Lampard replied: "It's probably not easy to answer that.
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"To a degree, yeah, but I’ll have to think about Forest, see what the week says. Of course, my role now is to try to give those players minutes, to show and grow a little bit in the team.
"But also, as much as there’s that, I have to work with all the players and they all have to respect what I’m trying to do. So if they’re training well there are other players who will be pushing those players too, so they do need to have a level of performance.
"Noni’s performance on Tuesday got him in the team, even though he was not so well earlier in the week. We all saw Benoit and it’s pretty clear that he’s got a big talent.
"So those are decisions I’ll have to make, but they do have to keep their level and they do have to keep pushing and we’ve got a tough run-in. The last week’s got three games and against three of the top teams, two of them away from home. So we’ll probably need to use the squad a little bit in that period anyway."
Then, on Thiago Silva – a slightly older member of the dressing room – Lampard added: "Thiago is a credit in all aspects. He's a classy, brilliant player. His career says it. He's brilliant at looking after himself.
"At 38 or so, I was in the MLS at that point. I understand it. Especially as a centre-back to be playing in the Premier League. What he must be doing to his body.
"He's also got a real great mind and he has a winning mentality so he would have been suffering a bit recently because he feels it, he wears it. He's a great reference point for the young centre-backs we have in the team around him. Again, nothing but praise for Thiago in all aspects."
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