Frank Lampard sympathises with Sadio Mane and Mo Salah over disagreement as he prepares for Chelsea showdown with Liverpool

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has conceded he can sympathise with former team-mate Mo Salah and Sadio Mane over their recent falling-out after revealing how he once felt the wrath of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink for not passing to the striker.

Following Mane’s meltdown over Salah’s decision to shoot rather than set him up in Liverpool’s win over Burnley last month, Chelsea manager Lampard confessed he had fallen out with team-mates for the same reason during his own playing career.

“How long have you got? I had a long career!” he joked upon being asked to elaborate ahead of his side’s showdown with Mane and Salah’s Premier League leaders on Sunday.

He then revealed one such incident – which appears to have taken place 17 years ago in Chelsea’s 1-1 draw at Southampton – led to a dressing down from Hasselbaink.

“I remember being in a dressing room with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink after I scored – it was Southampton we were at – and him complaining that I hadn’t passed to him in the game and I should’ve passed to him in a different moment from my goal.

“He was like, ‘You’ve scored one. There you go. You’re just trying to score another one and not pass to me’. From the man who shot 20 times a game!”

Admitting the Dutchman was not a man to be messed with, Lampard added: “He probably ignored me for a couple of days and we probably just spoke again after that. It was fine. There was no big issue. It’s just I remember it.

“As you get older and reflect on it, I probably actually respect him for it. That’s what made Jimmy the force that he was at the time as well.”

Asked which of Mane or Salah had been in the right, Lampard said: “They’re both in the right. They are. They’re competitive lads. I played with players who demanded the ball to their feet when I shot and, vice-versa, I demanded they pass to me when I shot.

“But I like it. They both want to score goals, they’re hungry, they’re competitive, they want to be winners and, when they play like that, then that’s the answer. If they’re not playing well enough or not performing and you see that kind of thing going on I think then maybe, as a manager, you could ask much more questions. But these boys are really driven. So I like it.”

Salah could have been lining up for Chelsea on Sunday had they not sold him to Roma three years ago, not the only time they have allowed such a talent to slip through their fingers.

Lampard, who was a team-mate of the Egypt icon for six months at Stamford Bridge, said: “You could see the talent but the player you can see at Liverpool is down to Mo himself. To leave a club like Chelsea is not easy. People will cast you aside and go, ‘He didn’t make it there’. To prove himself and be the superstar he is now is a total credit to Mo.”

Chelsea, who are finally giving young player a proper chance to flourish under Lampard, were hoping on Friday that Mason Mount would feature against Liverpool despite limping out of their midweek Champions League defeat by Valencia with a nasty looking ankle injury.