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Lampard: No Blues crisis

04 Jan 2007 - 07:49:05

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Midfielder Frank Lampard insists Chelsea are not in the midst of a mid-season crisis and is backing the Blues to come out firing and overturn Manchester United's lead at the top of the Premiership.

Jose Mourinho's side drew their third successive game and failed to score in a match for the first time this season against Aston Villa on Tuesday.

The result left the Blues six points off the pace set by United, but Lampard claims confidence remains high at Stamford Bridge and the return of injured duo John Terry and Petr Cech will spur Chelsea on to secure a third successive Premiership crown.

"I am confident we can pull the gap back," he said. "There are many points to play for and we've got a lot of confidence in this team. That's the reason we've been champions two years on the trot.

"It is important we carry on doing the right things. Slight things haven't gone our way. You can't dwell on that. You just have to wait for it to turn a little bit and I am sure it will.

"At one stage last season I think at one stage we were 15 points clear of the Manchester Uniteds and Liverpools and then all of a sudden we had a little blip and it was down to six or seven points at one point.

"It is certainly not a crisis. It is something we need to address because we are not used to drawing games and not getting three points for three games on the trot.

"We are used to winning games and we want to win games again."

Referring to the returns of key players Cech and Terry, he added: "It is a great boost to have Petr back.

"For me he is the best goalkeeper in the world. Credit to Hilario for coming in but we've been unfortunate to lose two of the best keepers in the Premiership for a long period of time.

"As regards to John, we all knew it was a short-term thing with his back. Psychologically it will be good to have him back. Who wouldn't want John Terry back in their side?"