Blackburn Rovers' Bradley Dack has stated that Chelsea boss Frank Lampard was his main inspiration as a young footballer.

Dack, 26, joined Blackburn from Gillingham in 2017. He's since proved to be one of the club's best-ever signings having already returned 47 goals in two-and-a-half seasons for the club.

He's not featured since December though after sustaining an ACL injury in a Championship fixture against Wigan - Dack has since discussed the recovery process over the past few months, and how he's managed to do so from home.

Speaking in the same interview with Sky Sports, Dack discussed his inspirations as a young footballer, and singled out the ex-Derby County and current Chelsea boss as his main role model:

"Lampard I think was the one for me that I really looked at how he got into the box and scored so many goals," he said. "I don’t think any midfielder anywhere will score as many goals as he did. He used to just have that knack.

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"I’ve heard all the stories about how much he used to stay after and practice and I think that’s why he was the player he was. He was the one that I definitely looked up to and tried to study and watch his movements and how he got into the box and how he finished."

Lampard scored 274 career goals at club level, making a staggering 915 appearances for the likes of West Ham United, Chelsea, Manchester City and New York City.

In his short time as a manager, he's quickly proved a success after guiding Derby to the play-off final last season, and this season proving many doubters wrong in his first in the Chelsea hot seat.

The verdict

Watching Dack, you can see how he might've drawn inspiration from Lampard. Dack is as prolific as any midfielder in the Football League and Blackburn will really miss him when the season gets back underway.

Tony Mowbray has nine games to close a three-point gap on the top-six, but doing so without their man main Dack will be an uphill battle.