Since Mason Mount returned from an injury that kept him out for two months, he has four goals in four games, with two assists, keeping Derby County in the hunt for the promotion playoffs in the Championship.
Three of those goals came in today’s 4-0 win over Bolton Wanderers, who are fighting for survival at the other end of the table. It’s well worth watching the highlights (embedded at the top) as those goals from Mount, wearing shirt No.8, should remind anyone familiar with goals from a certain other No.8, who just happened to be standing in the Derby dugout.
This is hardly the first or the last time Mount will be compared with Frank Lampard, but as long as those comparison are favorable, we’re not going to complain. Lampard himself was happy with the win, but saw plenty of room for improvement.
“It was a really good hat-trick for Mason. He had a couple more opportunities but I loved the first goal. That’s what he started to do midway through the first half, he started to turn, play and run on people and he is hard to deal with when he does that.
“He was very effective, it’s great for his confidence to score three and we need more from him now.”
-Frank Lampard; source: Rams TV
It would be pretty tragic if Mount had no more room left for improvement at the ripe old age of 20. In fact, the Chelsea loanee agreed with his manager (and idol), even as he was quite happy with his hat-trick (obviously).
It’s my first hat-trick in English football and second one of my career,” Mount told RamsTV. “It is the best feeling when you score a goal so to score three times in a game is unbelievable.
“It is a game that you remember for a long time.
“Not just myself but the whole team, we were brilliant. We knew it was going to be a tough game because Bolton are fighting for their lives now so we were just patient and when we had the chance we said we needed to be ruthless and take the chances and we did that.”
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“The gaffer said afterwards that it could have been ten, it could have been double figures. There were a couple that I missed as well that I was disappointed with. [...] I have always set a target of 10 goals for the season, I got that last season and now it is a relief and I can just build on it and try and get as many as I can.”
-Mason Mount; source: Rams TV
Mount has now reached the ten goals, with five games remaining (plus a few more if they do make the playoffs). Even if Mount hadn’t gotten to double digits, it’s clear that he’s ready for the next level, perhaps even at Chelsea?