Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has urged his players to embrace the challenge of overcoming their form slide.

With media scrutiny intensifying around our recent results, Lampard reflected on his fighting spirit in tough moments as a player and urged the current crop to show similar qualities now.

"I'm a fighter first and foremost," he said. "I managed to make a career out of the game as a player and when I packed up, I could easily have stayed in the media or come out of football completely but I got back involved with a desire to be successful.

"I didn't have the blinkers on. I knew there would be tough times and things you couldn't control like you did as a player.

"I love the job and I love the fact that if you can fight your way out of those tough times – that's me and the players – it's the best feeling in football."

He emphasised that the good times could outweigh the bad as long as there was a hunger to work through the issues.

"When I was a player here, I always looked at managers and considered what good times and tough times looked like for them, and how that responsibility is different to a player," he added.

"Fortunately, in the 18 months I've been here, I have managed to get both levels. I've had some really good individual games, like the last game of last season to qualify for the Champions League.

"I have thought about the tough times and it's fine. You have to go into the job wanting to handle pressure, wanting to handle success in the right way, being humble about it at all times. That is what I do.

"Talk can be nonsense. It's only actions that matter and all I can control is what's in front of me."