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Frank Lampard said his Chelsea side\u2019s second successive capitulation at home is nothing to do with the youthful nature of his side.<\/p>\nFrank Lampard said his Chelsea side\u2019s second successive capitulation at home is nothing to do with the youthful nature of his side.<\/p>\n
A fortnight after squandering a first-half lead against Leicester, the Blues blew a 2-0 half-time advantage against Sheffield United to be held to a 2-2 draw.<\/p>\n
Tammy Abraham\u2019s first-half double had looked like giving Lampard a first home win in charge, but Callum Robinson\u2019s effort less than a minute after the restart and Kurt Zouma\u2019s 87th-minute own goal handed the Blades a deserved point.<\/p>\n
Lampard, who has been forced to turn to youth this season owing to the club\u2019s transfer ban, named the youngest side in the club\u2019s Premier League history, with an average age of 24 years and 158 days.<\/p>\n
He handed a first start to 21-year-old Fikayo Tomori and brought on 18-year-old midfielder Billy Gilmour for his first appearance.<\/p>\n
But for all their youthful energy, their soft underbelly was exposed, though Lampard says the two are not related.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t put that together and I couldn\u2019t care less that we had the youngest team in (Chelsea\u2019s) Premier League history,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a real plus last week. The fact that it is young today, I don\u2019t think it relates at all.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lack of concentration caused mistakes for the goals, but you defend as a team as much as attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe concede because we switch off in a game we should be comfortably seeing out at 2-0 up. That\u2019s not disrespecting to Sheffield United, 2-0 is not the end of the story.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was clear with the players at half-time that it could 3-0 and be nice or a potential 2-2 on our hands so the disappointing fact is the first goal because that allowed it. We can only look at ourselves as a group.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lampard defended his decision to bring on Gilmour for his first senior appearance when the game was in the balance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t bold. (Mateo) Kovacic was on his haunches, obviously tired and Billy Gilmour is a midfield player I have got on the bench,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOther people can make what they want of that, but I wasn\u2019t trying to be clever, I was trying to see the game out.<\/p>\n
“I couldn’t care less that we had the youngest team in (Chelsea’s) Premier League history<\/p>\n
\u201cI have got faith in Billy I think he is going to have a big future, but we have any injury in midfield, with N\u2019Golo (Kante) who is a good player. But we have a ban, the squad is what the squad is.\u201d<\/p>\n
The average age of the squad would not have been an issue and Chelsea seen the game out which they should have done from a 2-0 half-time advantage.<\/p>\n
Abraham scored his second successive brace after capitalizing on errors from Dean Henderson for his first goal and John Egan and Jack O\u2019Connell for his second.<\/p>\n
It took his tally to four for the season and perhaps put question marks over Gareth Southgate\u2019s decision not to include him in his England squad for next week\u2019s Euro 2020 qualifiers.<\/p>\n
But Robinson\u2019s first goal for the Blades 48 seconds after the restart gave Chris Wilder\u2019s men the impetus and Zouma\u2019s own goal, when he turned in Robinson\u2019s inviting cross, earned a deserved point.<\/p>\n
Wilder said: \u201cWe had to play well here, we can\u2019t give ourselves a mountain to climb, which we obviously did.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo come roaring back as we did in the second half hopefully gives us an enormous amount of confidence and self-belief going forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want us to stand off teams, we obviously understand the teams we are up against and the journey we have been on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree years ago we were bottom of League One and now we are going toe-to-toe in the Premier League. It\u2019s not a cup tie, we are here on merit.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a biased point of view, I believe we deserved something from our second-half performance.\u201d<\/p>\n