Chelsea boss Frank Lampard bemoaned his side’s ‘sluggish and slow’ performance against Leicester City after the Blues slumped to their fifth defeat in eight Premier League matches on Tuesday night. First-half goals from Wilfred Ndidi and James Maddison sealed an impressive victory for the Foxes, who overtook Manchester United at the top of the table as a result.

Chelsea fought hard to hit back after the interval, seeing a goal from substitute Timo Werner ruled out for offside, but ultimately came up short in their attempts to claw back a point.

Lampard’s position as manager has been called into question in recent weeks amid the club’s dire run of form, and Tuesday’s result will have done little to ease the pressure on the 42-year-old’s shoulders.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the final whistle, Lampard fumed over his side’s sloppy defending and claimed the Blues can have no complaints with the result as they were well beaten by the stronger side.

“Very disappointing [to concede early],” said Lampard. “Sometimes when you are in the from you are in it can happen – it’s not an excuse. More disappointed by the second goal.

“Leicester are a good team in form, we are not in good form. We could do better, I’ll not dress it up any other way.

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“We were in a really good place in December, second in the league and two points from the top. Maybe complacency set in. There’s only one way out of it which is hard work.

“It is clearly concerning. It is a period we are not happy with, other clubs have been in that period. All we can think about is getting through the period, working hard.

“The important thing is the players bounce back. This is the cut-throat nature of what it is.”

Chelsea have two tough tests against Wolves and Tottenham coming up before the middie of February, games that could prove to be pivotal in the Stamford Bridge club’s hopes of winning a first Premier League title since 2013.

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Lampard continued, urging his side to maintain a positive attitude and approach the rest of the season one game at a time.

“The players have to keep their heads up but also keep their eyes open and review the game and see there was an energy in the Leicester team we didn’t have,” added the Blues boss.

“You cannot be sluggish and slow because it won’t work against a team like Leicester that are firing.

“[It] might be a big ask to answer realistic expectations. Last year was probably top six or top eight. The changes that have happened means we have maybe lost momentum, we are striving to find the pressing speed we had last year.

“The expectations have to be what are we going to do next week, next game, next training session.”

Meanwhile, Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers hailed his side’s efforts, claiming they deserved to hold on for the victory under the lights at the King Power Stadium.

“I thought we really deserved it,” he said. “The players have won a lot of games against the big opponents. They showed a lot of maturity. It was a really good, professional performance.”

Chelsea will be hoping to put Tuesday’s disappointment behind them when they return to FA Cup action in the fourth round, with Championship side Luton Town the visitors to Stamford Bridge on Sunday.