Eriksson urged to make Frank decision

Blackburn 2 Chelsea 3

The 25-year-old midfielder turned in a superb individual display and claimed a first-half double to take his tally for the season to 10 as the Londoners came from behind at Ewood Park, although they needed a late strike from full-back Glen Johnson to claim all three points.

Ranieri, who handed £10m signing Scott Parker a debut, was delighted with Lampard's performance and recommended him warmly to the Swede.

"I'm not Eriksson, but he's in very, very good form," said the Italian when asked if the former West Ham midfielder was playing his way into contention for a start for his country.

"I think he deserves to play. He deserves it because he's complete. He can do everything. I'm very pleased with his performance. In this league, it's amazing. He's a strong midfielder, quality, long passing, good vision, strong in the tackle.

"Now I think he has scored 10 goals. That's unbelievable, very, very good."

Lampard's quality shone through after Rovers skipper Garry Flitcroft had given the home side a third-minute lead with a neatly-struck volley from Markus Babbel's knock-down.

The Chelsea midfielder levelled with a tidy finish from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's 25th-minute cross and then put the visitors ahead 10 minutes later after accepting Emmanuel Petit's pass and beating Brad Friedel in a one-on-one showdown.

Blackburn thought they had clawed their way back into it on 65 minutes when substitute Paul Gallagher flicked Alan Mahon's shot home only to have his strike chalked off for offside.

However, he did equalise three minutes from time from Tugay's cross, but Johnson struck in spectacular style seconds later to keep Chelsea's title dreams alive.

"When Blackburn scored in the last two minutes, I thought the match was finished," Ranieri admitted. "But my players have a very strong character. They wanted to win and it was good for us.

"Arsenal and Manchester United are used to staying in this position. For us, it's the first time and we must continue to work to build our foundation."

Rovers' boss Graeme Souness could not fault the effort of his players, but said they let themselves down defensively and called for more bravery.

"It's more of the same from us," he said. "We are where we are and if I was to pick one reason above all others, the reason we are in the position we're in is because we don't have the type of player who's prepared at any cost at any cost to keep that ball out of the back of the net."