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Lampard admits Chelsea concerns

Frank Lampard will look to drive Chelsea on in the second half of the season © PA Photos

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Frank Lampard has admitted he and his Chelsea team-mates are suffering from a severe lack of confidence and hinted Ray Wilkins' exit has had an adverse effect on the club.

The Blues claimed the Premier League and FA Cup Double last season and appeared unstoppable earlier this campaign, but Lampard conceded the air of invincibility has now well and truly left the Chelsea dressing room.

Since the defeat of Fulham on November 10, Chelsea have won just one league game and lost four, a run that has seen Carlo Ancelotti's side drop to fifth, nine points off leaders Manchester United who also have a game in hand. Assistant manager Wilkins left Stamford Bridge in November but Lampard refused to use his departure as an excuse for Chelsea's slide.

Lampard told the Sun: "We won the Double last year, all of us together including Ray. Ray is no longer here. But the club makes the decisions and, if Roman Abramovich wasn't here, we wouldn't have won three Premier League titles. Things are important off the pitch but we've been putting out a side good enough to beat teams we've lost against. What we can't do as individuals is use what happened to Ray as an excuse. We have to perform regardless.''

He added: "At the moment there's a bit of a feeling that we're not sure what's going to happen when we go out there. If we're honest we all think that. That's just the way it is. You can't help that. It won't change anyone's determination to want to win but you can't help but feel it as we haven't been winning."

Worryingly for current Blues boss Ancelotti, Lampard likened Chelsea's current spell of poor form to that experienced prior to the dismissal of Luiz Felipe Scolari in 2009.

Lampard said: "The end of Scolari's reign was a bit like this. You lose the feeling of being able to win every week. Once you've had that and lose it, it's hard to get it back.

"We need to work in the same direction, follow the manager and, if we do, I believe it will turn. If we don't, it won't. This is a bad moment, make no mistake about it. We don't have to hide it any more. It has been a long enough time.''

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