‘I know what it means as a fan to win this trophy’

Hamong the Portsmouth fans celebrating their 2008 victory at Wembley was the Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount

Just as he likes to find space between the lines and looks for the tightest of gaps with his shooting, Mason Mount did a very good job of trying to wriggle out of marking his breakthrough season with Chelsea out of 10.

First, he attempted to leave this particular questioner behind by pointing out that, with today’s FA Cup final against Arsenal to look forward to, the season was not over.

Then, when pressed, he dropped his shoulder and revealed that he and his father, Tony, had set a preseason target for the 21-year-old to try to finish the campaign with 10 goals. He has seven in the Premier League and eight overall after netting in the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United.

Mount thought he was in the clear when the line of questioning changed to whether Tony was satisfied with his goal haul, but, finally, there was no more room for him to dodge the original line of inquiry.

“It’s difficult,” Mount (below) said. “But because I have got seven goals I will give myself seven out of 10. I’m a big self-critic and I know there is much room for improvement. I’ll keep getting better and better.”

Given he has made 51 appearances, scored eight goals and provided five Premier League assists, while also becoming an England international, Mount’s judgment of himself was certainly harsh.

Nobody would have flinched if he had opted for an eight or nine and he will be among the frontrunners for the Chelsea player-ofthe-year award.

And yet, just like his approach to his first season as a Stamford Bridge firstteam player, the academy graduate’s answer was pretty much perfect. Frank Lampard may well have had something to say, if only in jest, if Mount had gone as high as a nine and Chelsea’s head coach will no doubt be delighted by his player’s recognition that there remains plenty of room for improvement.

Given the targets he had set himself before he had even made his Chelsea competitive debut, Mount will be awarding himself the top numbers only if he starts to get close to some of the performances and figures that Lampard regularly used to achieve as a player.

“It’s gone well,” Mount said. “I always speak to my dad before a season starts and we set goals and one of those was 10 goals, so we haven’t reached that. It is what it is. Seven goals [in the Premier League] and five assists, so 10 goals and assists but the focus was on goals.

“Dad’s very hard on me and is my biggest critic, so 10 is always going to be the target. He has said that my whole life. If you are averaging 10 goals as a midfielder, you are having a good season.

“I fell a bit short, but that will be my goal next season. I will keep setting it until I achieve it and, hopefully, keep getting better and better at it.”

Mount, though, did acknowledge that he still had time to increase his score of seven to an eight with a performance that helps Chelsea beat Arsenal in the FA Cup final and secures his first senior winner’s medal.

“The season can finish with some silverware and that will take it up a bit,” he said. “I definitely look at a season when it is all over. We still have one massive game left, so I am focused on that.”

Tony used to drive his son up and down the A3 after allowing Mount, who was born in Portsmouth and attended Purbrook Park school in Waterlooville, to start training with Chelsea as a six-yearold.

It was also with his father, who is hosting a “blue party” at home to watch today’s final, that Mount got first-hand experience of what it feels like for supporters to see their team win the FA Cup at Wembley.

“Being a Portsmouth fan, I was able to go to the final in 2008, when they beat Cardiff,” Mount said. “I went to the semi-final that year as well, so that year I got to go to Wembley twice. Those are brilliant memories, as a Portsmouth fan.

“I would have been around nine years old. I remember travelling up from Portsmouth with my dad. He bought some tickets a couple of weeks before the game. A lot of the city had gone up as well to watch Portsmouth and it was a brilliant day for me and my dad to go there – and to see them win as well. When

they scored, I was straight up on the seat, with my dad holding me up, watching the celebrations.

“I know the kit man very well, my dad knows him, Big Kev, and he kept a shirt back from the final and I’ve got that up in my house, framed and everything. It’s signed, but I can only see the front of it, so I don’t know who is on the back.”

That day out in 2008 will be on Mount’s mind when he steps out at Wembley, and he added: “I know how much the FA Cup means, especially to everyone in England. It’s such a big competition. As a kid and a fan I went to a final and saw my home team win the competition and I remember how much it meant to me to see them win it.

“I know what it means to a fan to see your team win the FA Cup, so I want to do it for the Chelsea fans that can’t be there and are watching at home.”