PRESS CONFERENCE | Frank Lampard and Josh Eccles look ahead to Swansea City. 🎙️

Good to see you. How is the group and how have they recovered after the defeat over the weekend? Good week's training. Full week, which has not been the norm recently with the amount of games, but everyone's in good shape. After the game against Southampton, you spoke a lot about the pace of the game, the energy and the variation. Do you think that's simply down to fatigue because we're coming to the end of the season now or is it the fact that teams are able to just test you and challenge you a bit more? Various reasons. Always hard to put your finger on fatigue. An opposition that wants to come and slow the game down, we have to deal with and we've dealt with in most games this season, a variation of speed in our game has been one of our real strong points. Sometimes you don't get it fully right in a game or half a game before the first half last week, but when you analyse it afterwards we've created a lot of chances and we shouldn't lose the game, but it can happen so if we just move on. We also speak a lot about responses and reaction in football. When you are on such a great run, chasing promotion, to get a defeat like that, is it even more crucial to get a result this weekend, especially ahead of the international break and as you head into that final stretch? I think every result, every performance is crucial now. I don't hang on the words of responses and reactions. If we'd have won last week, still the same importance for us. That's how we've kind of approached it. We're off the back of a really good run of wins. You get one that you don't win, you just try and continue. So not to focus on things like that, more the good opposition at Swansea will be. They're a very good team, a lot of energy in their team, good players. So we just focus completely on that. Do you learn anything different about your players, Frank, as they kind of get a defeat over the weekend? They know how close the end is now. Have you learned anything in this week about the character they're showing? No. This season, every season is full of good, bad, somewhere in between. It's important that the players stay very level-headed. That's why I don't get too caught up in the reaction thing through one game. I know they're a good group. I know they're resilient because they've shown it through the season many a time. I know they're good players because the table tells us so this season from where we've come from and that's through the development of the players and the work of the players and the unit of the team. So you're going to take a few hits in this league. It's 46 games against good opposition. Many things can happen. We've been the team that's proven to be at the top of that so far. So we need to take that confidence from that and take it forward. In terms of international break, a few of your players getting call-ups as well. I imagine a boost but also does it show how far the squad has come under you? Does that reflect the amount of call-ups there are? I think it shows the progression of the squad. It shows individually those players that are called up, what they've worked towards because it's a huge honour to get called up for your country. We obviously don't love it as clubs because we're getting to a critical point now and some of our players are travelling a long way and you care and you worry about them but you can't have it always. You can't try and have players to develop them to play for their countries. It's good for them. It's good for us. But you are concerned that they get looked after but you trust that they get looked after well. So I'm pleased when we first come in. We had pretty much a full squad at international break training here. A few players would go. It shows that those individuals that have got their call-ups, their recent call-ups, etc, that they've done well and they deserve it. Does it come with challenges as well? I imagine you want to keep the group together at such a critical point but also not lose that rhythm? Well, if I'm honest, the biggest challenge of it is that they've decided to put a game on a Friday because the schedule over the whole year doesn't, the desire to put a game on a Friday when my players, some of them, are arriving back on Thursday. It's not compatible. It doesn't work. So it will be other teams that have this issue as well but if we're looking for a maximum of players to come back from flying back from wherever, eight-hour, nine-hour, different time zones for like Zidane on Thursday and play on Friday, I wouldn't say it's impossible but it's an injury risk and it's a performance risk without a doubt. So I cannot understand why it's on a Friday and then we go Monday after that. That's my gripe but it is what it is. So we'll do our best to manage it with recovery, taking care of the players, being across every detail we can be and then we'll see when they come back. That comes down to, I guess, the congested schedule. It's not ideal for you. How do you manage that then? Well, it's only congested because it's what it is. We've been playing for I don't know how many months but we can rearrange a day or so of the games. So we just have to manage it. It's not a conversation that's worth me getting into because we just get told the schedule. Saul Haji-Wright go off on Saturday. Is he doing all right? Hopefully nothing too serious? No, no. He's doing okay. He won't be fit for this weekend and he won't travel to America to play the games. Bobby Thomas? We'll see on the others. Jack Rodoni, is it looking like after international break? Again, we'll see on all of them. Swansea, the reverse fixture, was on Boxing Day last year. I believe there was a lot of illness within the squad. Are you imagining a different game this weekend? Yeah, it was an interesting game for us because we won the game. We were not at our best. And it was in that period where I felt fatigue was coming into the squad because of the squad. Certain areas where we didn't have numbers to have players come in and rotation, we had the illness in the week preceding or so the game. Not taking anything away from Swansea because I think they came to the CBS and played well, moved the ball well, made press a lot and we were not ourselves. So it was almost a good and a bad after the game. It's good when you can get a result with that feeling. But bad for us in some of the details in the game for us. I remember it well. Are we in a better position as a squad? Yes, we are. What will the game look like? I can't tell you now. We'll prepare for what we feel it will be and we'll have confidence that if we play well we can go and get the result we want. But yeah, that game was an interesting one from our point of view at that time. Just a word on the character he's shown and what he can contribute this season? I think he's contributed a lot and he's not always played as regularly as he would want, I'm sure. And that's probably more because of competition in that area of the pitch. But I think since coming in with Josh, I think he's developed, he's good to work with. He's got so many good attributes, Josh, as a player, as a midfield player, that he can fulfil different roles. And sometimes players want to say, I'm this, and sometimes I want to say, well, maybe you can be that. And I think Josh has evolved in that sense that he can play different midfield roles for us because he's got physical capacity, he's got quality, he can finish, he can find passes, lots of things that you want from a midfield player. So very happy with Josh, very happy he's been an important part of this squad this year. I think he's developed personally and I hope he feels that and understands it. You spoke to us a few months ago about Josh and how you were working with him to get more goals and you said how you want to see him more as a 10 rather than an 8. These last few months, he has got a couple of goals since then. How much have you worked with him on the training pitch? Well, we work a lot on finishing. Obviously, I think everyone should do and Josh is naturally a gifted finisher and that was clear to me. And I think Josh probably had a feeling that he was more of a 6. I know that from my early conversations with him. Our job is to try and find ways to maybe help the players in different ways and see what's best for the team. And I have felt at points this season that him being slightly higher up has been a benefit to us and it's shown that. I don't think it's a fact with Josh, but I think he's a 10 or an 8 or a 6. I think he can do different roles for us. That is, again, a strength in a modern midfield that rotates and has different ways of playing. He also has a good capacity to press and to run and to do that well. It's important for us with the way we play. So he can be used in different areas and we work a lot and hopefully communicate a lot. And Josh has done well, had some really good games this season. Good impact, good around the training ground. Good for the fans because he's local and has come through the ranks here, which is not... We would want more, but when you have one like Josh, I think it's a great story. And I know he cares because of that. So, yeah, I'm very happy with Josh. You've always said about young players, trying to give them opportunities. I know this is the end of the season, so it's all about the Premier League. Can I just ask about Kye Andrews, who's obviously gone on loan. He's doing fairly well. Are you monitoring his loan? Yeah, it's hard because my focus is completely here. But I've been in touch with Kye a bit. He scored a fantastic goal against Celtic, one of his earlier games there, which I was delighted to see for him. It was a great finish as well. And I know that Kye's got that. So it was the right time for Kye to go and play games and get regular minutes. He was frustrated in a good way. He wants to play and his talent says that he can play. So it's good for him. And yeah, he'll be there for the end of the season and he'll be back with us. You mentioned Haji Wright, obviously his injury tomorrow, not going to be involved and obviously not going away with America. This is an opportunity for Ellis Simms. How much of an opportunity is it for him to take this? Yeah, it'll be an opportunity for Ellis, an opportunity for Brandon potentially. Brandon's played that role for us as well. All three of the players we mentioned, Haji, Brandon and Ellis, have all given us a lot to share in their own ways. It's one of the reasons why our goals record is what our goals record is amongst the team structure and stuff. So I'm happy with all them and it just shows that you need them when an injury to Haji comes along. You need probably two and a half, three players for the number nine role because if you have just two and one's injured, you're really worried about the other one. So that's why Brandon's very useful for us with his versatility up there as well. But yeah, Ellis has trained really well this season. I know Ellis well because I've worked with him before and I think his attitude and approach himself and his development and how he's playing and improvements that players always want to make, I see them every day on the training ground to be fair to Ellis. So yeah, if he gets an opportunity now, he's had an opportunity already, we're happy with that. Swansea tomorrow, league's top scorer. How do you plan to stop him scoring against you? Well, they're a good team. They want to have a lot of possession. So there's parts of that where it's a team effort of trying to make sure we find the best way to combat that side of it because they play well. They want to play through you and they've got talented players and they've got a striker that's obviously in form that scores lots of different types of goals. So defend well. And the job Vitor Matas has done, the incredible home record since December, it's the best in the league since then. What do you make of that? Yeah, credit. Credit manager coming in in the season. I guess similar to what we did last year coming in when there's a few issues with the league position where you want to get to and I think he's had good impact. So that's the credit to them. They're a good team. And it's the first time Matt Grimes is returning tomorrow to the Swansea stadium. Are you expecting an interesting atmosphere for him? There's a few boos obviously on Boxing Day from the away end, wasn't there? Yeah. Matt Grimes played 10 years for Swansea and had opportunities to go to the Premier League I know vague bits about this. I don't know what to expect. But I always think if I were a Swansea fan, I think I'll be saying thanks very much for your 10 years. That's my opinion. Hi Josh, good to see you. How has this week been after the defeat over the weekend? Yeah, it's been all right. I don't think we've allowed ourselves to get too down. We know we went at our best but we still managed to create chances and probably enough chances to come out and win the game. But unfortunately we didn't. The thing is, as a team, we're good at moving past that and we're looking forward to playing in Swansea tomorrow. Frank was just in here talking about you and your attributes and one of the things he said was your versatility. You're able to kind of adapt in that midfield and play a number of positions. Is that something you've had to work on? How easy or difficult has that been for you personally? To be fair, throughout my whole career, I've played numerous positions and I think that's helped me massively in my career so far. Obviously, academy days, I was centre-half, right-back. Then I found my position when I came in as a first-year pro as a centre-mid. I actually played half-season at right-wing-back. Any position I play, I enjoy and I love learning it. It's always about learning and improving as a player and I feel like I'm doing that in the Frank Lampard and the whole position I'm playing. It's put me outside my comfort zone but, like I said before, I'm enjoying it. Obviously, when you're starting, you're not going to complain. You're one of the few players who's actually come through the academy and the pathway here. What has it been like working under Frank Lampard? What are the aspects of your game that he's perhaps helped you improve on? Yeah, at first, to be fair, when he first came in, I was in a bit of a draw. Obviously, watching him when I was a child and one of my idols growing up, he's come in and helped me and, to be fair, the others massively. Torpy, Grimesy, Jamie Allen, all sorts. Obviously, when he was playing, he was a goal scorer in midfielder and that's what I want to be. So, yeah, he's come in and helped me massively in that department. So, yeah, I appreciate that. Has he imparted any words of wisdom or any advice to you? He's just, yeah, to be fair, he looks after you. He looks after all of us, to be fair. He's proper down-to-earth and he cares about what he does and what we put out. So, yeah, he's got a philosophy and we work hard to try and put it out on the field. An international break coming up as well, obviously. The timing perhaps isn't the most ideal, especially as you're going into your final stretch of games. From a player perspective, how hard is it to kind of adapt when you are losing players to international duties with the schedule you've got coming up as well? Yeah, it's tricky. Obviously, with international break, you can take some positives and some negatives, obviously, because it gives us a little bit of a breather, a little bit of a break to recover properly. But when you're on a run, you want to keep that run going. But like you said, when some players are going away to international, it's tricky for them because they might have a game on the Wednesday and we've got our first game back on a Friday. So, they've got a quick turnaround and all sorts of that. But, yeah, obviously, if they come back in and start, then I'm pretty sure they'll put 100% in. But for the players that probably might come in, obviously, it gives them a chance to showcase what they're about and to try and keep their position on the pitch. And personally, for you, your long-term ambitions, where do you see yourself as somebody who has been at the club for so long and has seen what the club has achieved? Yeah, obviously, I've seen this club go from the deepest, darkest depths to possibly the highest of highs. Obviously, we all hope for the same achievement this year, but we've still got to do it. For me, long-term, obviously, I wouldn't want to be anywhere but I'm standing here to be fair. Obviously, I've been here my whole career and that's how I want to finish my career. But obviously, if things change, then things happen. So, have you seen yourself in the Premier League? Hopefully. On Swansea then, the reverse fixture was last December. Quite a different game. I was speaking to Frank about the illness in camp as well. They've got an incredibly strong home record. I imagine no game is going to be easy now until the end of the season, but what sorts of challenges and tests do you expect in tomorrow? Yeah, Swansea is always a tricky place to go. We're looking forward to it. Yeah, the challenges it sets. They lack a lot of possession, so we're going to have to be compact and work hard off the ball a lot more than on the ball this time around. But when you're top of the table, it's always going to be a hard game. We're the team that other teams want to beat. They might put an extra 10% in, but that's what we enjoy the most. All the best. Thank you. Thank you. Morning, Josh. Do you sometimes have to pinch yourself? He said you were in awe of Vampire since you joined. Do you sometimes have to pinch yourself when you're learning from him and the stuff he's done in his career? I'd say at the start, yeah. But I think we've all built that relationship now, where it's just like a normal day. But yeah, definitely at the start, it's crazy. I used to watch him, and now I'm learning from him. He said to me that he had conversations with you when he joined, and you said you saw yourself as a 6, but he's seen you more as a 10. Does that bring you a bit of confidence that he sees you as a goalscorer at midfield? Yeah, absolutely. I'll take that. It's a compliment. I only say that because I spent most of my career playing at position, but if he sees me playing hard at the field and me affecting it that way, then definitely I'll try my hardest to do so. Do you have a preference, or do you not mind? No, anywhere in the midfield. I'll play anywhere on the field, trust me. You mentioned about coming through the academy. You're living the dream of every Kop kid at the minute. What would it mean for you to get this club into the Premier League? Like you said, you've been through this journey. What would it mean to you personally? The world. Sometimes I have to stop myself thinking about it. Obviously, the job's not done yet. We've still got eight more games to go. I can't really say too much on that yet. Is it hard to keep your feet on the ground, knowing how close it is? For sure. It's everyone's dream to try and get into the Premier League. There's times before bed you just can't stop thinking about it. It keeps you up at night and all sorts, but that's part of the game. You've got to learn from it and just try not to think about it too much. Do you catch yourself looking at the league tables? I try not to. No, definitely not. Obviously, tomorrow then, is there going to be a different test? They're in good form, Swansea. What have you made of them this season? Because mid-table, what sort of challenge are you expecting? Like I said, I just feel like they'll help the ball a lot. They've got a threat up front. I think he's top of us for one of them, so we'll have to keep an eye out on that. We've just got to put our game and our game plan to the game. Obviously, we've got some players here that want to try and prove something out there. It should be an interesting game in the quarter. With the international break coming up, what are your plans for it? Have you got a bit of time away? No, I'm definitely going to stay in commentary. I'll save all the celebrations and chilling out for after the season's done. For now, I'll probably just have a couple of days off and then focus on getting back to training. So Frank giving you a couple of days off in that time? I'm not sure yet. It's all depending on tomorrow? Maybe. As well for you, playing in that 10th role, working quite nicely with Onyeka and Grimes, that partnership, the trio of you, how is that working alongside them? The way that Onyeka's come in since January and really elevated that thing for you? Yeah, obviously Grimes, he's done his thing this season. We all see the quality he brings to the team. Obviously, Frank's only just come in in Jan, but we can already see what he brings to the team. Yeah, to work with them two is such a nice feeling. You know you've got that comfort blanket behind you. But we've still got the likes of Torpy as well and Jamie Allen, who are also bringing the competition in training. When they come off the bench, they're going to cause a threat as well. So yeah, we've got such a talented team this year, which is very important leading into these last eight games. Does that mean you have to up your game in training because of the competition you've got in them musicians? For sure, yeah. That's one of the things, you need the competition in training. It's going to make you better as a player. It's going to improve you as a player. So I'm pretty sure everyone appreciates the talent everyone else brings. Everyone else brings something different to the team. So yeah, it's very interesting this year. And another sold out away in tomorrow, what part can the fans play? They're playing a part in every single game this season. They give us an extra 10%. I mean, players always say it, but we truly mean it. But yeah, no, I don't think there's any other fans this year that's sold out every away game. So yeah, we appreciate them massively. Thank you very much.