London
Frank Lampard insists Chelsea's players won't turn on him after the dismal run that threatens to derail their season.
Chelsea manager Lampard is under pressure after four defeats in six Premier League games pushed the Blues down to ninth place.
Lampard has tinkered with his team repeatedly in a bid to find a winning formula and he knows it is hard to keep all his players happy.
The 42-year-old expects players who find themselves out of the side to be frustrated, but he believes they will do their talking on the pitch rather than grumble about the boss behind his back.
"Having been in those squads I can say clearly how sometimes that the player power phrase got relayed to the open world and what was going on inside was not always the same thing," Lampard said.
"I hate relating back to my time with the club because everyone will get bored with that, particularly the players.
"Where we are at the minute is we have been off the pace of winning the Premier League for a few years.
"When you are in a rebuild you are searching for anything that can help this squad grow. When it is growing there are tough times. They have to react, they have to get over it.
"The players have to do that. I am looking closely at the players, as I look at myself because the players will do it on the pitch but I am always at the forefront of it."
Chelsea host Morecambe in Sunday's FA Cup third round bidding to hit back to form after last weekend's 3-1 damaging defeat against Manchester City.
A shock cup exit would be a major blow to Chelsea's morale, but Lampard knows it is difficult for a squad changed by a major close-season spending spree to show leadership while players are still finding their feet.
"It's a big ask to ask players fresh to this club to be the players that have been here many years and have seen it all before," Lampard said.
"Other teams in the Premier League have that, we do not.
"I never came into this job thinking for one minute that I'm going to have a squad of 25 players or so who are going to be saying 'I love not playing football'.
"I realised pretty quickly in this job that whether we win or lose there will be players who will be wanting to play.
"Some will use that with real positivity, some maybe not so much."
