Chelsea the ones to beat, says Lampard

FRANK Lampard has warned Chelsea’s championship rivals to forget any idea the history-chasers are about to step off the gas.

Jose Mourinho’s men begin the campaign as overwhelming favourites to retain their Premiership crown and become only the fifth side in history to record a hat-trick of titles.

In an effort to find a bit of encouragement for their own challenge, some rival bosses, notably Alex Ferguson, have suggested the Blues could get distracted by their desire to conquer Europe and the arrivals of Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko represent a switch in emphasis away from the home front.

Lampard dismisses the theory completely.

Chelsea’s domestic campaign may not have got off on the best note with a Community Shield defeat to Liverpool, but the England midfielder is adamant once the real combat begins against Manchester City on Sunday, the Blues will be fully primed for the task that lies ahead.

“We won’t relax. We are too professional to step off the gas,” he said.

“There is the right attitude amongst the squad and we intend to push each other on.

“There is no danger in having too much quality. We are not just good players, we are good professionals.

“We demand of ourselves and we want to win everything we are involved in.”

As usual, Lampard expects the major threats to come from Arsenal, Manchester United and a Liverpool side who appear to have found a way of overcoming Chelsea in one-off games if not during the league season.

If the bookmakers are to be believed, the challengers will actually be non-existent, although that is not a theory the England World Cup star is buying into either.

“Some people may be writing the championship off but we aren’t,” he said.

“All we are doing is concentrating on our own jobs. People were quick to say the title was a foregone conclusion last season, but we still had to work very hard to win it and I expect it will be even harder this year.”

The major difficulty for Chelsea’s rivals is that, having seen the Blues confirmed as England’s superior force for the past two seasons, they are now being presented with the additional threat of Shevchenko.

The 29-year-old is widely regarded as the best striker in Europe and while, at £29 million, the Ukrainian’s arrival from AC Milan did not come cheap, he has already provided evidence of his talent.

Shevchenko’s finish to bring Chelsea level at the Millennium Stadium was clinical. And, with Didier Drogba providing the muscle, Lampard is confident the Blues new recruit can have a major impact on the English game just as he did in Italy.

“I have been trying to work on my link with Andriy,” revealed Lampard, who supplied the pass for Shevchenko’s goal.

“There is much more to come because we have only been training together for two weeks, but I don’t think it will be that difficult because he is such a great player.