Frank Lampard insists he was ‘not surprised’ by Jose Mourinho’s claim that ‘some Chelsea players’ dive

Frank Lampard says he was ‘not surprised’ by Jose Mourinho’s reference to ‘some Chelsea players’ conning referees in order to win penalties this week.

Tottenham boss Mourinho was speaking in defence of star man Harry Kane, after he controversially won a penalty against Brighton during the 2-1 victory last weekend.

But Chelsea manager Lampard, who has already locked horns with his former Portuguese coach during an EFL Cup tie in September, defended his players and insisted the criticism ‘did not affect him’.

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard insists he is not affected by Jose Mourinho’s comments this week
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard insists he is not affected by Jose Mourinho’s comments this week
Spurs boss Mourinho defended star player Harry Kane after he won a penalty against Brighton
Spurs boss Mourinho defended star player Harry Kane after he won a penalty against Brighton
Lampard was responding after Mourinho’s comments of: ‘Kane? I think you are confused.

‘You could be speaking about some Manchester United players, some Man City players, some Liverpool players, some Chelsea players.’

Yet the Chelsea manager said in advance of the Sheffield United clash on Saturday: ‘I wasn’t surprised by those comments.

Lampard says he was ‘not surprised’ by Mourinho saying ‘some Chelsea players’ dive
Lampard says he was ‘not surprised’ by Mourinho saying ‘some Chelsea players’ dive
‘There have been no incidents of diving at Chelsea this season that I’ve seen.

‘But I wasn’t surprised by it, no. I think it’s very normal that managers in and around the clubs challenging sometimes mention others with those statements. It didn’t affect me.

‘I’m not going to tell Jose or any other manager how to do a press conference.

‘I think we all know when we watch these penalty decisions, we know what ones are penalties, what ones are dives, ones that are cleverly bought. I don’t want to dwell on it.’

Timo Werner has taken over the mantle of taking penalties and scored twice on Wednesday
Timo Werner has taken over the mantle of taking penalties and scored twice on Wednesday
In fact, Chelsea have actually already had eight penalties this season but Lampard was insistent none of them were for diving.

The Chelsea boss has switched up his penalty-taker in the last week, with summer signing Timo Werner taking over from Jorginho after the midfielder missed two in a row.

The German forward converted two spot-kicks for Chelsea in Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Rennes in the Champions League.