Frank Lampard has the hardest job as Chelsea manager since Roman Abramovich took over, according to Graeme Souness.

The Sky Sports pundit believes that given a transfer ban and the loss of Eden Hazard, Lampard has his work cut out for him at the Stamford Bridge club.

Abramovich has been at Chelsea since 2003 and overseen an unprecedented level of success domestically and in Europe.

Speaking on Sky, Souness said: "I think this is the most difficult job for a Chelsea manager since Roman Abramovich took over the club. The owner appears to have lost interest through circumstances not of his own making, but that's a factor I think.

"The transfer ban is also a major issue and losing arguably one of the best players in the world [Eden Hazard], or certainly the best player in the Premier League over the last five or six years, it's not easy.

"He needs time and you can't be judging Frank Lampard on what you see now - this is what he's inherited. There's not a lot wrong with them, just people being slightly different at vital times and scoring more goals.

"When this team are on the front foot, they're fabulous to watch. But when the game goes the other way, there are not a lot of people who can sense that danger to say 'let's be difficult to play against'. We've seen it twice now in succession - at Old Trafford and today."