Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has admitted he should have started Callum Hudson-Odoi against Fulham following his side’s 1-0 victory over their local rivals.
The Blues’ three-game winless Premier League run came to an end after Mason Mount drove the ball past goalkeeper Alphonse Areola in the 78th minute to seal the points for Lampard’s men.
Hudson-Odoi impressed once more after coming off the bench in the match, and Lampard has admitted in hindsight that the 20-year-old was unlucky not to start from the off at Craven Cottage.
“Callum could’ve deserved to start today to be fair,” said Lampard.
“It’s not easy selections for me on that side of the pitch at the moment.
“I am delighted with how he is playing at the minute and he is approaching it in the right way. He will get many, many minutes for us.”
The result moved Chelsea to seventh place and manager Lampard was happy with his side’s spirit following the performance.
He added: “(The win) was really important because our recent league form as we know has not been what we want, so that means at the top end of the pitch we’ve gone from the top goalscorers in the Premier League to not.
“That means there’s a little bit of a lack of confidence in individuals and when you’ve got a little bit of a block of a 10-man team then you’re going to have to try and find a pass that goes through a line or a bit of magic that comes off the cuff and it wasn’t quite there for us until the goal.
“But Mason, like I said, was the outstanding player.
“The patience was good, the movement of the ball was pretty good it was important that we took it forward because I think the spirit and the way we approached the game was spot on and now we’ve got a big game on Tuesday.”
