'Mourinho can call it how he sees it' - Lampard confused by Tottenham manager's 'pony' comments

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard says Jose Mourinho is wrong to say Tottenham are not contenders for the Premier League title this season.

Spurs are top of the table, level on points with reigning champions Liverpool, after they drew 0-0 with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Mourinho believes his players' frustration with the result proves they have gone through a "complete change of mentality" , but insisted his side are not capable of challenging for the league crown.

"We are not even in the race so we are not a horse," the Portuguese manager said. "We are the small, young horse - a pony. We are just a pony, and you see the difference."

But his Blues counterpart was left confused by Mourinho's comments, as he believes with the likes of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min in good form, they are capable of causing an upset.

"It’s Jose’s call to say it as he sees it from his end, but from the outside they are top of the league, it’s very close at the top," he said.

"If we’re contenders then they have to be contenders. If you’ve got Harry Kane and Son in your team – Son has got nine goals, Harry’s got seven, they keep clean sheets well because of the organisation of their team – they would expect to be in the race.

"They have invested heavily – they’ve got people like Gareth Bale sitting on the bench, Dele Alli’s not here. There is a strong squad there. So, I think we are all competing, but Jose can say it as he sees it."

Mourinho also remarked that it is "not a problem at all" for Chelsea to be two points behind Spurs at this point in the season.

Asked for his reaction to the comments, Lampard said: "I’m not sure what angle he’s coming from saying that – in what way?

"I don’t think the result either way today would have changed the idea that there’s a long way to go. There are so many games to go I don’t think it would have changed anything.

"I suppose it’s irrelevant what the feeling is after the game from Jose’s point of view for us. We just have to focus on ourselves. We know it’s tight at the top.

"There are not just ourselves, Tottenham and Liverpool that are in the race, there are a lot of teams around us in this season which is looking slightly different to recent seasons. I don’t know what to say about that to be honest."