Frank
Lampard has praised the professionalism of strikers Michy Batshuayi and
Olivier Giroud, given the pair's fewer minutes on the pitch compared to the
in-form Tammy Abraham so far this term.
Abraham, 22, has eight goals in 10 Premier League games and is currently the
joint-second top scorer in the Premier League alongside Manchester City's
Sergio Aguero.
Batshuayi and Giroud meanwhile have played a combined total of 164 minutes
of games in the league for Lampard's side this season.
The Chelsea manager said: "It's not easy when Tammy is scoring regular goals
and gets a firm footing in the team, and Michi is showing all the right ways
of handling it.
"It's the same for Oli (Giroud), I have to pick the squad for the best of
Chelsea, I have three strikers to choose from and I have to make the
choices.
"That positive spirit when you aren't playing is not just important for him
but it's important for the group.
"I can't complain about any of their attitudes and I have to choose the team
as I see it.
"I know the qualities of all of them and over the course of the season many
things can change and that's where you need professionalism within the
group."
'I love players playing for their country'
France boss Didier Deschamps and Belgium manager Roberto Martinez have both
recently expressed their desire for their respective country's players,
Giroud and Batshuayi, to be given more playing time at club level.
Mauricio Pochettino recently hit out at Argentina over the selection of
Giovani Lo Celso for their upcoming clashes against Brazil and Uruguay later
in November.
But speaking ahead of their clash with Watford, live on Sky Sports, Lampard
insists he likes the fact that his players are in contention for
international squad selection - including midfielder N'Golo Kante, who has
been rested for Chelsea's last two top-flight games against Newcastle and
Burnley.
"I love players playing for their country, it means they are playing well
for us and get selected," Lampard added.
"If N'Golo is fit and happy I will happily wave him away and hopefully he
will come back in good health."
'Football could learn from respect shown in rugby'
Lampard also gave his backing to Eddie Jones' England side for their Rugby
World Cup final against South Africa in Japan on Saturday, and feels that
football players and managers could learn from the respect that is shown
towards match officials in rugby.
"I thought it was some of the most inspirational sport I have seen in a long
long time [England's semi-final win against New Zealand], in terms of
desire, mentality and talent, it's what we strive for as managers to have
that kind of commitment," Lampard said.
"I was impressed at how every player reacted towards the referee.
"It's something I think maybe we could all take on board, we need to maybe
take a deep breath sometimes more than we do.
"The respect in rugby seems to go both ways and we could probably all learn
from it."
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