Much more to come from Mason Mount – Chelsea boss Frank Lampard

Frank Lampard has hailed Mason Mount’s “exceptional” impact at Chelsea.

Mount missed the decisive penalty as the Blues lost 5-4 on spot-kicks to bitter rivals Tottenham in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup clash.

The 21-year-old England midfielder remains a constant fixture of Lampard’s Chelsea tenure, even after the club’s £220million summer recruitment drive.

Lampard believes Mount will easily shake off the disappointment of Tuesday’s penalty miss, and has a fruitful Stamford Bridge career ahead of him.

“I think what Mason’s done is exceptional and there is a lot more to come and that’s part of the great thing about working with someone who has that attitude, mindset and qualities within that,” said Lampard.

“He should be very happy and proud of what he has done in the last year and the thing about Mason is he always wants to be better and that’s a pleasure to work with and what I want to see is the competition that has arrived at the club around him, that it makes him raise his level.

“Mason has a lot more levels to go up in the game. Even though he is 21, the qualities he has shown already, there is a lot more to come from him and the players around him now and the squad being driven to be better and better, Mason will improve with that.

“He is a humble lad who has had a real dream to play for Chelsea.

“The thing that makes him special is he’s gone and attacked that dream with the talent he has and made it through pure hard work.

“He reflects that every day, and last year where I didn’t have the opportunity to make changes to the squad, the injection of Mason and his energy and his youthful abilities was a big part.

“I think this year now as we’ve started the season we’ve missed two of our wingers, in Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic.

“Kai Havertz came in with five days’ training before the first game, Timo Werner similarly is attacking a new league and the physical demands of it.

“With Mason he came back and is naturally very fit. That part has helped and now as the season goes on things may change around that but Mason is going to be a big part of this squad.”

Lampard makes no secret of his desire to see the England star fulfil his rich promise but when asked if Mount is a Chelsea captain in waiting, he stopped short of heaping up any undue pressure.

“I don’t want to make that statement because it might be a way off,” he said.

“Captains come in different shapes and forms and I don’t want to put that burden on him at this point.

“What I’ll say is he’s got a faultless attitude in terms of how he approaches the game. That’s what got him into this position so far.

“He’s been picked regularly in the England squad because I know Gareth Southgate and Steve Holland have absolute respect for how he comes and trains and performs for them.

“The last England game they played he came on and injected a lot into the performance in 30 minutes, which he’s done for us many a time.

“There’s a fascination with Mason, he’s homegrown and he’s a young player who’s got regularly into the team.”