Frank Lampard has insisted that his Chelsea side will look to bridge the gap to the top of the Premier League in their own way and will not copy Liverpool or Manchester City.
Lampard's first season as a manager at Stamford Bridge sees the Blues sit in fourth place in the Premier League, having dealt with a transfer ban in last summer's window.
The 41-year-old admitted that closing the gap will not be easy, but Lampard stated that the Blues have their own unique process in their search for success.
"I don't want to jump the gun because what Liverpool and Manchester City have done has been clear; I'd be a fool to suggest we can bridge that gap quickly because there has been a lot of hard work at those clubs in terms of recruitment of top players, of great coaches," he told Sky Sports News.
"We have to be part of that process. We have to do it our way, we can't try to copy. We have had experienced players around this year to help the youngsters but we know there are little areas within the squad... some of that's what we have on the ground here already, some of that is how we might look to recruit.
"What's going on in the world has made it very difficult to plan on that front. But going into this break I certainly felt we were moving in the right direction and with continued progress and work on the training ground, as well as potentially bringing in some players in key areas to try and help us bridge that gap, yes, I've got a strong belief that we can [challenge]."
Lampard has already been planning ahead in terms of the recruitment of new players for next season with Ajax midfielder Hakim Ziyech joining the club on July 1 for an initial fee of £34.9m.
Oliver Thomas
