Premier League: Mason Mount says Chelsea must remain focussed to keep top-four hopes alive

Chelsea’s English midfielder Mason Mount believes that his team is still in contention to qualify for the elite competitions in Europe, including the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League, but says players must remain focussed as the London-based club aims to get back on track.

Chelsea’s form has been inconsistent this season, and after a shaky first-half of the ongoing term, the Blues decided to sack manager Frank Lampard and name former Paris Saint-Germain boss Thomas Tuchel as replacement.

Chelsea (40 points) find themselves at sixth place in the Premier League standings, four points behind fourth-placed rivals Liverpool (36).

While Mount admitted that Lampard’s departure was ‘tough’, he added that Chelsea must remain a strong as a unit.

“Yeah, I mean obviously it’s not a nice time, it’s a tough time. I mean I have been at the club for a very long time and I have seen many managers depart the club from a far.

“I’ve been in the academy and it has happened quite a lot but when you are in the building, in the first team and it happens, it’s a different feeling. But yeah, we have to be together, we have to be strong as there are massive games coming up and we need to attack them,” the 22-year-old said on Star Sports.

Mount, while speaking about Tuchel coming in, went onto say that his team still aspires to be on top of the league.

“Yeah as I said, speaking to them, getting little bits off them and their experience of going through it and trying to help us younger boys through it is… you have to kind of lean on those players to help you, especially the older, more experienced boys in the group but it’s a new challenge now.

“As I said we come together as a group, we are tight, we are strong, we have big games coming up and they are coming thick and fast and we want to get back up to the top of the league, that’s the most important thing.

“We want to do well in the FA Cup, we want to do well in the Champions League, and we are all in contention for all of the chances. So yeah, we just need to get back on track and get focussed,” added Mount.

Mount credited Frank Lampard for grooming him to become a better player. Mount spent the 2018-19 season on loan at Championship side Derby County, a time when Lampard was the club’s manager.

“Yeah, he has been very important, as you said he brought me to Derby, gave me the playing time.

“I learnt so much under him there and then obviously coming back to Chelsea and continuing my learning, my ability to get better and yeah, so obviously he has helped me so much. I have nothing but praise and gratitude for him for everything he has done for me as a player on and off the pitch. I have definitely grown as a person as well so obviously, it means a lot,” Mount, who joined Chelsea’s youth setup at the age of six in 2005, said.

Chelsea next face struggling Sheffield United in the Premier League on Sunday before travelling to Barnsley for their FA Cup fifth-round game on 12 February.

Catch all the live action of Premier League and tune-in to watch on Monday, 8 February 2021 at 12:45 AM only on Star Sports Select