Mason Mount has revealed he has set himself a target to score ten goals this season for Chelsea.
The Blues playmaker has had a superb breakthrough campaign in west London so, making 25 appearances under Frank Lampard and scoring five goals so far.
Mount has become vital to Chelsea due to his work rate off the ball that often causes the opposition to lose possession or make a long ball forward, and he revealed it was his father that made him concentrate on adding a different element to his game to keep ahead of his peers.
“My dad always said when I was younger that you can’t just be a luxury number 10 because you see so many players like that in academy football,” he told the club’s official website. “You see so many players who want to get on the ball, do all the good stuff, but never want to track back, work hard or do the defensive side.
“You see that so much and he said to me that you need to do the other side of the game too, so that was always in my head.”
Despite impressing under Lampard for Derby last campaign, Mount insists he still had a lot to prove to his boss ahead of the new season.
“I hadn’t had a full pre-season with Chelsea before last summer so that was my first goal – to go away with the first team, work hard, show the manager I was ready to play and get as many minutes as I could in pre-season,” he said of his start to the season.
“I knew that would give me the best chance to show him that, when the season started, I could step in and play a big part.”
The 20-year-old’s last goal was a well taken finish against Aston Villa earlier this month, but he is still hoping to get on the scoresheet a few more time before the season’s end.
“I always set a target of 10 goals too – double figures – no matter who it’s with. I achieved that last season and the year before, so hopefully I can do that this time as well. If you’re stepping up a level, then you’ve got to go to that level with your performances as well.
“The players around you are going to be better so you have to be better as well. Ten goals was always something I felt kept me focused and kept me looking forward, at any level.”
Mount and Chelsea will be hoping to get back to winning ways at Tottenham this weekend following an alarming run of form which has seen them lose four out of their last five matches.
Lampard’s side travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the hope of getting one up over Jose Mourinho’s revitalised side.
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