Frank Lampard has hailed the form of Chelsea teammate Juan Mata since his playing return.

Tuesday night's brace against Nordsjaelland took Mata's contribution to four goals and four assists in his last four games, the 24-year-old having a hand in almost two-thirds of Chelsea's goals over that period.

Lampard said of a player who may prove his successor as the Blues' midfield talisman: "He had a nice little break for a couple of weeks which he probably needed after the Euros. He is looking very sharp and it is great to see.

"When players get on little runs of goals like that, they tend to keep on coming and he is a real threat at the moment."