LAMPS: STAND UP AND BE COUNTED

FRANK LAMPARD has challenged his Chelsea players to show their character in the battle for a top-four place.

Lampard has not given his players a public dressing down on many occasions this season but was highly critical of them for being too quiet during Saturday’s lame surrender at Sheffield United.

The Chelsea boss wants his players to be more vocal on the pitch, starting against relegated Norwich tonight.

And he also told them to “stand up” and show “character” as they cannot afford any more slip-ups, especially as the stakes have been raised by Manchester City overturning their Champions League ban.

Lampard said: “The important thing is how we react and I expect that from the players. There will be big personalities in the team who need to stand up. They need to show the quality they’ve shown for big parts of the season.

“I trust they will do and because we’re at the business end it’s very important that they do.

“I think mentality is huge. If you watch the games – and I had a long afternoon watching all the games on Sunday – you will hear, for good or for bad, managers talk about mentality after the results.

“It cannot be understated how big mentality and attitude is and I think it’s something we can improve.

“Older players can take on responsibility of helping that.

“Critical times like this now where there’s a lot on the line, it’s time for people to make that improvement.”

Chelsea expect Andreas Christensen to be fit after he came off injured at Sheffield United but N’Golo Kante will miss out, although he hopes to be fit for the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United on Sunday.

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