Chelsea vs Plymouth: Jordan Houghton set for Stamford Bridge debut years after tough Frank Lampard reception

Jordan Houghton can still remember the time Frank Lampard literally left his mark on him — sending a message to the one-time Chelsea starlet.

And he believes the Stamford Bridge great also left a lasting imprint on the club in just 18 months as manager before he was sacked last year.

The Plymouth Argyle midfielder believes his own career may have turned out differently had Lampard been in charge when he was making his own way through Chelsea’s academy.

Houghton is set to run out at the Bridge for the first time in tomorrow’s FA Cup fourth-round tie. He readily admits he hoped he would one day do it for Chelsea, having been there from the age of six to 22.

While he is not bitter that he never managed to make his senior breakthrough at the club, he wonders if it might have been different had Lampard’s drive to promote youth been shared by previous Chelsea managers.

“There was a period where there was a good bit of hype around the youth teams and we were winning a lot of stuff and no one seemed to be getting opportunities,” said Houghton, who won the FA Youth Cup alongside Andreas Christensen and Ruben Loftus-Cheek in 2014.

“Things have changed now — players are getting in. I think it was down to Lampard making that initial movement in terms of trusting the young players, but I don’t have any negative feelings towards it. If Lampard was manager at the time, I think there would have been opportunities. I’m not saying necessarily that would have been me, it might have been for someone else. You wouldn’t be human not thinking what if.”

He remembers Lampard the player giving him a rough reception on the training ground.

“I always remember Lampard because, as a midfielder, I was up against him,” he said. “I’ve never spoken to