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Cape Town - Chelsea boss Frank Lampard says his side's performance in the Super Cup defeat to Liverpool is a much-needed injection of confidence for the new season.
Lampard suffered his second defeat on the bounce since taking charge of the club, this time losing 5-4 on penalties to the Reds in Istanbul, but he was far from downbeat after the game.
The Chelsea boss wanted a response from his side following the 4-0 defeat against Manchester United in the Premier League at the weekend and was pleased with what he saw.
Lampard felt his side deserved more at Old Trafford and the same can be said here as they took Liverpool to extra time and penalties, before losing the shoot-out 5-4.
Lampard said that he could not have been more proud of his players and believes they are in for a good season if they can continue to show the same kind of spirit and application.
"They showed their personality. It was a tough, tough game against a fantastic Liverpool team," Lampard said after the match which finished 2-2.
"Talk about Jorginho, talk about that performance, talk about [N’Golo] Kante who has hardly trained, talk about Kurt Zouma, Andreas [Christensen], I could go through them all, incredible. I’m really proud and I know we lost, but I’m confident for the season after that."
Lampard has been unable to sign new players this summer due to the transfer ban, but on the evidence of what he saw in Istanbul, he has no concerns on that front.
"We’ve got a real quality bunch in here," he added. "People will talk about transfer bans and all that, but I already knew this was a really good group of players and we’re working harder as a team."
Tammy Abraham missed the decisive penalty as it was saved by Liverpool goalkeeper Adrian, but Lampard had plenty of words of encouragement for his young striker after the game.
"Tammy needs to keep his head up," Lampard said. "That’s part and parcel of being a top player. You want to take the fifth penalty, but you might miss it."
Christian Pulisic was another standout performer for Chelsea, with Lampard believing the American youngster will only get better as the season progresses.
The Blues will now return to England to prepare for their next Premier League encounter against Leicester City in what will be Lampard’s first home game in charge, and three points would go down very nicely indeed.
