Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has hit back at his critics, insisting it is easy to criticise people and that he remains ‘very confident’ in what he is doing at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea have won only one of their last six Premier League games and have slid down into mid-table territory as a result. Lampard was given the benefit of the doubt in a challenging debut season, but a summer spend of over £200m for a worse return has doubters asking if he is cut out for the job.

Lampard landed on his feet by getting the Chelsea job in 2019, with only a year of managerial experience at Derby County under his belt. That role with Derby came barely 15 months after he retired from playing.

He insists he knows what he is doing, but Chelsea fans are seriously divided.

“I could have been a pundit, commenting on what everyone does with hindsight, whenever I want, and I don’t want to do that,” Lampard is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.

“I’m very confident in what I do, whether people think I’ve been a manager for two-and-a-half years, or whatever. I’ve been playing football since I could walk. I’ve been playing professionally for 20-odd years,” the 42-year-old argued.

“I want to win games. I don’t like losing games. On Monday, I was disappointed because we lost to a team [Manchester City on Sunday] that was better than us on the day. On Tuesday, I woke up determined to get better and win our next game. That’s the way I see it.”

Lampard has the lowest points per game average of any Chelsea manager, including interims, in the Roman Abramovich era, making him worse than Andre Villas-Boas, Roberto Di Matteo and Maurizio Sarri – all coaches the Blues hierarchy eventually sacked.