Frank Lampard insists he never believed he was one of England’s ‘untouchables’.
Lampard returned to Fabio Capello’s starting line-up Tuesday night as the Three Lions picked up a 1-0 victory over Wales at Wembley.
And the Chelsea midfielder admits he will always take it on the chin if Capello decides to leave him out of the team — as he did against Bulgaria last week.
Lamps, 33, said: “People like to give off the idea that players are expecting to play every game, but we’ve never been like that.
“We’re all professionals and our egos are only our desire to succeed individually and as a group, which we haven’t quite done for England.
“It should be competitive and I’ve had phases before where I’ve sat on the bench for England.
“I tried to stay away from the furore this week and just tried to keep my head down and concentrate.? But I don’t mind. I’m very proud to play and I’ll play as long as I can contribute for England.”
Lampard sees the emergence of England’s new crop of stars as a massive positive and believes they will drive him on to better performances.
He added: “It’s very good to see. It’s good to see Ashley Young — I know he’s not completely a young player, but he’s really blossoming at the minute.
“Stewart Downing is the same on the other side.
“Jack Wilshere’s injured now but there’s some real attacking options, which is great to see.
“Chris Smalling at the back and Phil Jones, who I’ve been really impressed with at Manchester United, it’s something that was maybe missing a year or so ago and people weren’t quite seeing where it was coming from.
“All of a sudden, we can see these young ones sprouting up and that’s great for the fans and us as a group.”
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