Monday 13 May 2013

Record -breaker Lampard: I want to stay at Chelsea

FRANK LAMPARD wrote his name into Chelsea history then urged the club to sort out his Stamford Bridge future once and for all.

Lampard, 34, scored two second-half goals to overtake Bobby Tambling’s 44-year club record.

The England midfielder, who is out of contract at the end of the season, took his overall tally to 203 with a dramatic 88th-minute winner to secure Chelsea’s place in next season’s Champions League.

His goal sparked wild scenes of celebration as travelling Chelsea fans tried to get on to the Villa Park pitch to congratulate their idol.

And Lampard said: “We’ve got a huge week coming up and hopefully at the end of it we can sit down and sort things out. Hopefully that can happen soon.

“It’s great to be part of this exciting young team and I want to stay. I love putting this kit on and want to continue doing that. I hope I’m here next year.”

Lampard dedicated his record to his late mum Pat.

And he said: “Time passes but my mother was my biggest fan and is always with me, her and my dad.

“These goals mean everything to me. You could see that at the end when I was celebrating with the fans.

“The support I’ve had from my team-mates has been amazing and I’m thankful to every one of them because they are the ones who have been putting it on a plate for me to break that record.

“The fans have been willing me to do it for a long time and were probably just as frustrated as I was at not getting there earlier. So I’m delighted with the way they were at the end. That means everything to me.

“Bobby Tambling is a great man. He hasn’t been well recently so I didn’t want to overcook the celebrations out of respect for him.

“But I was delighted to do it today and the celebration showed that.

“I never dreamed I’d get anywhere near 200 goals and I did get a bit emotional at the end.

“I had a booking so I didn’t want to jump into the crowd on my 203rd goal but if I sit down and think about it I’ll remember every one of them.

“This is a huge result for the team. After the season we’ve had and number of games we’ve had to play, we wanted to put Champions League qualification before Wednesday’s Europa League final.

“We showed great character to come back from a goal down with 10 men and now we need to rest and get ourselves ready for another massive game in Amsterdam on Wednesday.

“We’ve been fighting for a long time and wanted to finish the season well.

“It looks like we have Champions League football and now we want to assure ourselves of third place and win the Europa League.

“Nothing is going to beat winning the Champions League final in Munich last year but this is another great day.”

That satisfaction with a job well done was shared by boss Rafa Benitez, who must now decide whether to keep Lampard in his starting line-up against Benfica.

He said: “Lampard’s record is great news for everyone. He’s a fantastic player who has been working so hard to get there

“To achieve what he has done is amazing and I’m really pleased for him and for the team as he scored two goals and we have won the game.

“What happens with his contract is not my decision. But all the physical data we have about Frank is good and he can play a lot more games at the top level.

“He doesn’t have the pace of an Agbonlahor but he has all the qualities to get into the box. He’s very intelligent with his understanding of the game and always gives everything for the team.

“I had a conversation with him after one game when he wasn’t playing and told him I’d give him every opportunity to break the record.

“He’s always been thinking about scoring goals and now that he has the record we don’t need to talk about it any more.

“But hopefully he can score three or four more in our next two games this season.

“The main thing is to pick the correct team for Wednesday night.

“I will see how everyone is before I make any final decisions.”

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