Source: PA
Lampard eyes England century
Frank Lampard has set his sights on yet another accolade as he closes in on a century of England caps.Ashley Cole captained the Three Lions in a 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland at Wembley on Wednesday night after becoming just the seventh English player to reach the 100-caps mark. Lampard is now just just four games shy of an elite band of players including Bobby Moore, David Beckham and Sir Bobby Charlton. And the Chelsea midfielder said: " I saw Stevie (Steven Gerrard) get that gold cap, which was well deserved, and then Ash last night. If I can get there and can stay involved in future games then I would be a very proud man if I did reach that."He added: "Ash certainly deserves the accolades. To get 100 caps, to start every game and to play at the quality and level he has played for such a long period of time, he deserves everything. I think the fans gave him the very right reception, he deserved the moment and the atmosphere was brilliant."Lampard, who scored England equaliser against the Irish, and Cole look set to add to their tally this weekend when England take on Brazil.Roy Hodgson's threadbare squad will be hoping to repeat the victory they achieved over the Selecao in February.Lampard's stunning strike secured a 2-1 win at Wembley and, having beaten them for the first time in 23 years, now have the chance to get a second win over Brazil in four months."I won't get carried away, it will be a very tough game," he said."I know the Brazilian boys at Chelsea weren't happy coming here and losing. They are certainly going to want to beat us. If we can go there and get a result that would be fantastic for the lads' spirit and confidence going into the qualifiers"We are trying to keep improving and it is good not to lose a game. We are trying to work on the team and work on our attacking play. There are things we can take away from last night that we are pleased with and things that we can tighten up on. We have a big game on Sunday, then a well-deserved break and then our minds will be on the qualifiers that are coming up."