Chances were at a premium during a tightly-contested London derby but the best ones fell our way, notably in injury time when Olivier Giroud underhit a lobbed effort.

At the other end we were rock solid in defence, with Tottenham limited to a solitary on-target effort, and that from range. So it was largely satisfied Lampard who spoke afterwards, and started with his overall assessment of the game…

‘We dominated big parts,’ he said.

‘We played a really good game. Everything we talked about before the game in terms of nullifying their counter-attacking threat we did really well. That part of the game was fantastic. They didn’t have a chance until we almost gifted them one at the end.

‘We created enough. It’s difficult to play against Tottenham when they defend in a low, central block. You have to try and go round them, and it’s not easy whilst making sure you don’t allow counter-attacking transition. We were great at that.

‘We did enough to win the game without getting that last little bit that would win it for us. Sometimes you rely on a bit of magic or something to drop for you when you have that much dominance, and it didn’t quite come. There was only one team searching for that for the majority, and that was us.

‘So I have a balanced feeling after the game. Big parts were great, hence the clean sheet, but it was a game we could and probably should have won.’

With more than a quarter of the league campaign now complete, Lampard also assessed the current state of his team, who sit third in the Premier League and top of our Champions League group.

‘I’m pretty happy with where we are at. Bringing signings in doesn’t mean it works instantly. We have to work, we have to gel, and we are doing that. Every day and every performance relationships are building.

‘We always want more and that is hopefully to come.’