Lampard was confident Chelsea could pull off comeback

Frank Lampard says he told Chelsea’s players at half-time against Ajax that he felt they could pull off a comeback.

The Blues drew 4-4 in an incredible Champions League encounter at Stamford Bridge, where they trailed 3-1 at the interval and fell further behind early in the second half.

But boss Lampard said he always felt his side were capable of battling their way back into the game.

He explained: “I told the players at half-time I thought we could draw the game 3-3 or win it 4-3 or it might be 4-4.

“I’m not saying it because I’m clever now, I just felt that a few moments were a mixture of our sloppiness and also some bad fortune.

“I felt that we were in the game. I felt that there were moments with Christian (Pulisic) and Willian and our pressing of the ball meant that we were firmly in the game.

“We just needed a little bit more in the final third and we needed to lift the spirit in the stadium.”

Video: HaytersTV

Pulisic has revealed that Chelsea’s players were also convinced they could recover after a terrible first half in which Tammy Abraham and keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga both scored own goals.

Pulisic said: “At half-time we said to each other ‘We’re going to win this game. We’re going to come back and we can do this’. We just always have this belief.

“It shows the spirit of this team – we’re never going to give up. We obviously have a lot of talent, but that was more about the fight and the will to come back in that game.”