sport

LAMPS LOOKING TO SHINE BRIGHTER

Lampard - new lease of life.

Frank Lampard is in no doubt there is more to come from him this season - for both England and Chelsea.

With his contract issue now resolved, the 30-year-old has found a new lease of life under Luiz Felipe Scolari at Stamford Bridge.

His consistency with the Barclays Premier League leaders - netting five goals already - has had a positive impact on his England role, with Lampard producing one of his best international performances to help Fabio Capello's men thump Croatia 4-1 in Zagreb last month.

The Italian could be set to re-unite Lampard with fit-again Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard at the heart of the side for the World Cup qualifier against minnows Kazakhstan at Wembley on Saturday.

Despite the disappointment of missing out on Euro 2008, Lampard revealed he returned to Stamford Bridge fresh and determined to make an impact.

"I'm very focused this year and I want to improve again and move on again.

"The personal break I had in the summer was great to get away from football for a month," he said.

"The whole contract thing is definitely a weight off my shoulders. That's great for me. Not only did I get bored with it I think everybody got bored reading about it. I know that."

Lampard added: "The new manager has been a breath of fresh air for the club and I just feel very focused and confident. When I feel like that I feel I can improve more.

"We are playing good football and it's enjoyable to play.

"I am playing some good stuff myself, but it is really helped being surrounded by players who are all moving the ball quickly and we are starting to dominate games.

"I'm big enough to say that for the last couple of years I haven't done as well as I should have done for England - and after Croatia this is a start for me to kick on again and show the sort of form I feel I can."

Given the quality of his England colleague, Lampard sees no reason why he and Gerrard should not be able to forge a formidable partnership.

He said: "We both care passionately about playing for our country, and we both want to play well for our country.

"It certainly should work in theory and it is up to us to make it work."

Lampard, 30, added: "Maybe we are in a better environment for it to improve now and it will be just a matter of time - although let's hope it's not too long because we are not getting any younger."

While the result in Zagreb may have been somewhat unexpected, a sell-out Wembley crowd will demand nothing less than a comprehensive victory against the former Soviet state, ranked well outside the top 100.

Lampard - himself a victim of the boo-boys in the past - believes England have what it takes to satisfy the partisan home support.

"It's been well documented about players playing with an element of fear at Wembley and there is an element of truth in that," he said.

"When we do play with any sense of doubt in our minds we are not going to play as well as we would if we were full of confidence.

"But after that little boost against Croatia I think the fans will bring that to the game and then it's up to the players."

Lampard added: "The thing about the fans/player relationship is that fans react to how the players are playing as well.

"With the Croatia game we showed a work ethic and a team ethic - and a lot of supporters responded to it.

"We don't want to get carried away with ourselves, but when fans see that, and hopefully see it at Wembley on Saturday, you do get a different response out there."