• What They Said

Villas-Boas hails Lampard response

ESPN staff
February 25, 2012
Frank Lampard scored his 150th league goal against Bolton © PA Photos
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Andre Villas-Boas paid tribute to Frank Lampard, who returned to the side and wore the captain's armband as Chelsea returned to winning ways with a 3-0 win at home to Bolton.

"He is magnificent on this kind of responses he has done it in the past. It is difficult for him of course, bearing in mind all the experience he had in the club previously and the fact that he normally played every game to be out of those important games again doesn't mean that we lose confidence in the player - we trust him a lot. He continues to deliver for the team and today was exactly the case.

Former Bolton defender Gary Cahill admitted it was a relief for Chelsea to get three points under their belt: "It takes a bit of weight off our shoulders to get back to winning ways. The mood in the dressing room is fantastic and we will build from here. Winning breeds confidence and puts smiles on people's faces."

Terry Connor enjoyed an impressive start to life as Wolves manager as they battled back from 2-0 down to claim a point against Newcastle at St James' Park.

"All credit to the lads. They came out second half, did the same things and got their reward in the end. I thought first half, although we conceded two goals, we played reasonably well. I told the lads to keep doing the same things and add a bit more quality. They earned their luck and deserved the draw."

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew admitted the Magpies's draw felt like a defeat after they let a two-goal lead slip from their grasp.

"It obviously feels like a defeat really. When you're 2-0 up and you're Newcastle United at home, at half time, you've got to win, and unfortunately we haven't. The opposition had a good part to play in that. They had a great attitude, they wouldn't lie down. They got a bit of a fortunate goal and they ended up getting a point, which they probably deserved. But for us I'm not overly disappointed. It could be a lot worse. After Spurs we needed to just get ourselves back to something like our normal selves, which we were today. But we still should have won."

Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany insists his team must maintain their momentum in the title run-in after they easily despatched Blackburn 3-0.

"There is no such thing as an easy game for us - to win the league we will have to do the same week in week out. People say being leader you have the pressure from those behind but I think it is the opposite."

Steve Kean believed Rovers should have had a penalty shortly after City's opening goal when Morten Gamst Pedersen went down under a Nigel de Jong challenge as he was shaping to shoot.

"I did (think it was a penalty) and I said that to the referee but we respect his decision. We felt as though there was contact. But we accept referees can only go with what they see at the time."

Roy Hodgson believes West Brom are out of the relegation dogfight © PA Photos
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QPR boss Mark Hughes bemoaned his side's inability to finish matches with 11 players after Samba Diakite was sent off on his debut as R's lost 1-0 at home to west London rivals Fulham.

"We have to get points on the board - if we keep 11 players on the pitch. I'm convinced we have enough players to stay in this league."

Martin Jol downplayed talk of a spat with former Fulham boss Mark Hughes:"We shook hands but maybe I made it a bit too personal, you know? I tried to grab his shoulder and he didn't like that because he is a tough guy. He is a winner, he wants to win. Maybe he doesn't like me, I don't know.''

Roy Hodgson believes West Brom are out of the relegation dogfight after thrashing Sunderland 4-0 at the Hawthorns.

"There are still 12 games to play and we will lose some of those because they are tough fixtures against a lot of teams above us. But it's an 11-point gap (over the bottom three) plus goal a better goal difference. That is an awful lot of points. Our aim is to stay in this league for a third successive season but I don't think I need to be worrying too much about asking questions about relegation when we are effectively 12 points clear."

Sunderland boss Martin O'Neill admitted his side were well beaten: "We were second best for all of the first half and at the end of the day we were deservedly beaten. It was a tough one to take because it was certainly unlike us in recent times not to compete and just have a real appetite for it."

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