Abraham delighted to see hard work in training pay off with hat-trick, Chelsea win

Tammy Abraham set a rather ambitious target at the start of the season, to match his goals-total from last season. That wouldn’t be an extraordinary target, were it not for the fact that those 26 tallies came in a division below the Premier League. After 7 goals in just 5 games so far this season, he’s already more than a quarter-way there!

But that’s just the sort of confidence the young man carries around on a daily basis.

“I have always been a player who has confidence in myself. I use the pressure to drive me and inspire me. Going into the games I think it drives me even more: I want to do well for myself, my team-mates, my family and all the fans.”

Less self-assured players might have been negatively affected by how the season started. Tammy’s unfortunate miss just a few minutes into the first game set the the tone for that 4-0 defeat to Manchester United. It got worse from there, after his penalty miss in the shootout gave the Super Cup to Liverpool and subjected him to racial abuse on social media.

All he’s done since is score by the bucketload, responding to the hate just as he set out to do, on the pitch, with his football.

It’s the appropriate reward not only for his own dedication and hard work, but for the team’s efforts on the training ground.

“We’ve worked on a few things and there was obviously a different approach in our system today than before, but it worked really well I feel. In the lead up to this we’ve been training well, everyone has come back after the international break and really been training hard.

“We’ve been putting in the work and we’ve shown that today, so it’s been nice to come here and get the three points. We were quite disappointed not to get three points against Sheffield United, so to come here and do that so convincingly is fantastic.

“On a personal note I’ve been working hard and I’m delighted to see that pay off with my goals today. Hopefully this can be my season and it’s up to me to keep showing the gaffer in every game and training session that I’m hungry and I want success.”

Next up for Chelsea will be the first Champions League game of the season, as Valencia come Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. Whether Abraham keeps his spot or Lampard rotates to either Olivier Giroud or Michy Batshuayi remains to be seen — especially with Liverpool coming up after that next weekend — but the 21-year-old is looking forward to making his Champions League debut as well.

“As a young boy growing up I would watch the Champions League every week, so to now have the chance to play in it is a dream come true. I can’t wait to get it started. In the sessions leading up to the game I am going to have that buzz which I will need to take into the games.”

That buzz is all around at the moment. Long may it last!