Bam sorry about ban
Lampard urges boys to come of age
FRANK LAMPARD is urging his Derby County youngsters to become men at Elland Road tonight.
The Rams go into their play-off semifinal second leg at Leeds trailing 1-0 and no side has made the Championship final having lost at home in the first leg.
Boss Lampard admits his side were not good enough in Saturday’s first game.
And he says his young players Jayden Bogle, 18,
Mason Mount, 20,
Fikayo Tomori, 21, and 22-year-old Harry
Wilson will have to step up if Derby are to keep their Premier
League dream alive.
Lampard (right) said: “These games are do or die. This is where it separates the men from the boys. The first game was ramped up, you feel it.
“You feel it in the atmosphere on the day and that is something I have to be ready for, and the players.
“I felt we dealt with the youth of our team OK in effort terms on Saturday but there were moments on the ball when we weren’t as composed as we normally are. Maybe that was a small lesson. We have played at Elland Road before, and at some fierce grounds this season, and it is something the players will need to be ready for.”
Derby have lost to Leeds three times this season after Marcelo Bielsa’s side did the double over them in the regular Championship season.
Some of County’s loanees such as Chelsea’s Mount and Liverpool’s Wilson could be in the top-flight next term regardless of tonight’s result, but Lampard has urged them to show their promise.
He added: “We have some young players who might go back to their parent clubs but what a chance for them PATRICK BAMFORD will lead Leeds’ attack tonight after apologising to boss Marcelo Bielsa and his team-mates for his two-match ban for play-acting.
The striker (below) is available to face Derby after serving his suspension for pretending Anwar El Ghazi struck him to get the Aston Villa man sent off.
Leeds skipper Liam Cooper said: “He apologised to me and the boys for what happened, and the staff.
“In the heat of the moment, sometimes you make stupid decisions and Pat will admit that. But he’ll tell you that in these last 10 days he’s certainly trained a lot harder than he would if he was playing.”
Bamford will play in the absence of injured leading scorer Kemar Roofe and Cooper added: “There are no worries about Pat being fit and we all know what he can do.
“He’s got this weird confidence where if he misses chances he always knows he’s going to score.”
Leeds have lost five times at Elland Road this season and Cooper added: “I don’t like to ever be over-confident.
“As soon as you start being like that it can affect the way you perform and your mentality.
“We’re a team that’s got to be all at it and if we’re not, we find it hard.” in their own careers to lay down a marker and to feel a game like this. If they are going to be successful, there will be more games like this.”
Lampard says he is expecting big changes at Derby next season regardless of tonight as owner Mel Morris has made cut-backs and wants to sell up.
He said: “The summer will be very important for us. To keep moving forward it will take investment because we are losing a lot of players.
“The loans go back and we have seven players out of contract.
“That is a hole in the squad which is going to be a challenge for the club whatever happens.”