'We're all excited!' says Chelsea manager Lampard ahead of EPL restart

EPL and London giants Chelsea, much like any other side in the division, are sure to be buzzing with the league slated to restart in 10 days. The Blues' boss Frank Lampard admitted everyone is excited to resume the season as well, with the first game against Aston Villa in sight.

Speaking to the EPL side's official site, Lampard opened up on the anticipation, change in atmosphere without the fans and the benefits of the transition to phase-two training.

EPL side Chelsea seen training at Cobham

Chelsea are placed fourth on the EPL table with 48 points from 29 matches, five behind Brendan Rodgers' upbeat Leicester City side and a massive 34 points behind champions-elect Liverpool.

They'll be looking to secure Champions League qualification in the next nine matches, which are scheduled to come in thick and fast.

EPL side Chelsea raring to go, says Lampard

The pace and difficulty of a busy EPL period would not affect the players despite imminent lack of optimal fitness, since everybody is simply excited to get back on the turf. Chelsea are set to face-off against second-from-bottom side Aston Villa first up, followed up with a test against EPL champions Manchester City.

Chelsea are set to take on Aston Villa when the EPL resumes

Speaking on the confirmation of dates and the eagerness, Lampard exclaimed:

"We’re all excited. We were waiting to see when the games would be. It’s an extra game in week one, but more than anything we’re just excited to have confirmation of the dates. We’ve been waiting for a date to work towards in terms of how we’re working in pre-season, so we are particularly happy to get the first date of the Aston Villa game."

Speaking on the importance of every game hereafter for the EPL giants, Lampard continued:

"Every game now in the nine league games is going to have something on it for different reasons. The first two games are good examples of that. Villa are fighting for their lives, City have huge quality, we know that. It’s a difficult start and we’ll need to be ready."

Back 🏡 for training today! pic.twitter.com/NuMVnP2KTE

— Chelsea FC (at 🏡) (@ChelseaFC) June 6, 2020

The club's record goalscorer mentioned that his side will have to adapt to the change in atmosphere behind closed doors, as there would be a difference in 'variables'.

Citing the example of Bundesliga and the change in dynamics in Germany, he said:

"It may change the pace of the game, it might change the slight tone of it. We’ve seen that slightly in Germany and we need to be ready to adapt to that. All we can do really is get ourselves as fit as possible."

Ahead of the EPL restart, all teams were allowed to go into phase-two of training, which involves contact between players who can practice in large groups. For football to resume regardless of the situation, it was bound to happen for players to achieve match fitness. Lampard agreed on the same, stating that it's more relevant to match play.

BREAKING0 positive from 1195 samples in R6 of PL #COVID19 testingFollows1 positive from 11970 positives from 11304 positives (3 clubs) from 10082 positives (2 clubs) from 9966 positives (3 clubs) from 748Total 13 positives from 6274 tests@TheAthleticUK #ProjectRestart

— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) June 6, 2020

The above is further boosted by the fact that no cases were tested positive from the sixth round of testing in the EPL from 1195 collected samples.

All eyes will now be on the EPL as Chelsea, Manchester United, Spurs and Wolves battle it out for the top four.