Frank Lampard praises demoted Didier Drogba & claims Chelsea can play better after beating Manchester United

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Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has praised Didier Drogba‘s attitude since being demoted to the bench following the arrival of Fernando Torres, and has called on his team-mates to continue to set high standards after beating Manchester United on Tuesday night.

The England international believes the result, which reduces the gap to the top to 12 points, can see the club challenge for the title this season, and claims Drogba will provide plenty in the run-in despite being dropped to accommodate Torres.

He told the Evening Standard: “His reaction to losing his place has been brilliant and it is a load of nonsense when people say he has the hump. It has been far from that.

“He has been getting behind the lads, telling us to ‘come on’. He has trained with commitment and played with commitment as a substitute. It is nonsense to say he is sulking.

“To have those three strikers at the club is huge for us in the final months of the season. They are three of the best in the world.”

Chelsea came back from a goal down to defeat the league leaders, with Lampard netting the winner from the spot, but the former West Ham man believes the team have to up their game and put in more consistent performances if they are to have any chance of retaining their league title.

“We need to go on from here,” he added. “We normally go on a late run at this time of the season and that is what we hope to do now.

“If we don’t get a result in our next game, against Blackpool, then this will mean nothing.

“We can’t get ahead of ourselves. We usually put a run of wins together but we haven’t done it so far this season. It is something we need to do now to give us a chance.

“It was important to win a big match again and in the second half there was a little of the old Chelsea in there, you could see the power in the team, the commitment and the strength.

“We can play much better. There were times at the end of last season and the beginning of this that our football was top drawer. It was probably as good, if not better, than anyone else in Europe.

“Lately we haven’t been playing like that but we can get back to those high levels.”

The result will have gone down well in north London, where second-place Arsenal would have watched on with glee as United spurned the opportunity to stretch their advantage to seven points, but Lampard added that Chelsea will be in the race if they keep on winning.

He continued: “Does this victory help Arsenal win the title? If Arsenal keep winning, but that’s not a given either.

“United have enough experience to know it is a marathon and there is a long way to go.

“But we don’t really care about anyone else. If we keep winning all our games, we’ll be in with a shout.”