Lampard Warning His Players Against Complacency

Following last night’s emphatic 1-4 victory over promotion-contenders West Bromwich Albion, attention now quickly turns to a trip to the Riverside to face another in-form side in Middlesbrough.

Manager Frank Lampard praised his players following Wednesday night’s win but was critical that his side could have been more ruthless in front of goal and put the game to bed earlier than they did.

They will need that ruthless streak this weekend as they come up against the league’s meanest defence. Boro have kept six clean sheets at home out of seven this season in the league and have only conceded seven goals all season.

“I’m not too interested in stats,” said Lampard, who was speaking to RamsTV ahead of this weekend’s game. “I know they are two good teams and we knew the threats West Brom had going forward.

“My mindset wasn’t to go there and attack away from home, it was more how can we approach this game in the right way. It might not be the same, it might be different but I think we have to be flexible in how we approach games. Middlesbrough will also hold an attacking threat going forward.

“I can name the players and know the attacking players they have and also defensively they are very strong. You know what to expect with a Tony Pulis team. Middlesbrough are very solid at the back, generally with five at the back, but normally they negate your opportunities to create and score.

“We are aware of it but I am focused on us. Hopefully we can bring a similar threat that we took to West Brom, create chances and if we get 20 shots again then we have a great chance of scoring goals and we will try and take that to Middlesbrough. We will go there and try and win the game.”

The Rams have taken six points from a possible six against good teams in the division in Sheffield United and West Brom.

Whilst the manager is pleased, he is fully concentrated on making it nine in nine and will not comment on the week until its conclusion.

“I would rather talk about the week after because these two days between West Brom and Middlesbrough now are huge for us,” he said. “It’s not for the legs, they need to recover. Training is for the players who didn’t start on Wednesday night but it’s more for the mind.

“It’s more how we approach it because it’s two great wins and we need to carry that through. If we are going to be successful this season, it means the mentality and the focus throughout the squad has to be good so it’s important to keep our heads straight and speak after Middlesbrough.”