12.10.2009
England have to learn to live without Rooney: Lampard
Frank Lampard believes England will benefit from being forced to do without Wayne Rooney for their final World Cup qualifier, against Belarus at Wembley on Wednesday.
Rooney has withdrawn from the squad with a calf injury and Lampard believes the rest of the squad should welcome the opportunity to prove that England are no one-man team.
"Wayne's obviously a good player and he's been in fantastic form," Lampard said Monday. "He's been the player of our campaign for sure, but it's quite nice for us to have to get along without him.
"There are other good players waiting for a chance. If we can see other players coming through then it's a good thing for us."
The gap created by the absence of Rooney, who was again England's outstanding player in Saturday's 1-0 defeat in the Ukraine, could be filled by Steven Gerrard advancing to partner Emile Heskey in attack, which would necessitate a midfield reshuffle and possibly offer Lampard a more offensive role.
England boss Fabio Capello may also look at his back-up options in defence after a mistake by Rio Ferdinand on Saturday led to goalkeeper Robert Green conceding an early penalty -- which Andriy Shevchenko missed -- and being sent off.
The incident has led to suggestions that Ferdinand may be a fading force but Lampard insists the Manchester United centreback will recover his best form quickly.
Lampard said: "Rio's consistency, along with John (Terry), in the last four or five years puts them right at the top in centre-halves for me.
"It's unfortunate that there seem to be players taking stick at any one time. We need to get behind players, and Rio is certainly a big player. He's been fantastic for such a long time.
"When the big game comes you need big players, and Rio will deliver then."
Lampard also admitted that he could understand why Heskey is contemplating a move away from Aston Villa to ensure he is playing first-team football in the run-up to the World Cup.
"Every player will have that same mentality, because competition for places is fierce," Lampard added.
"The manager wants players who are playing well and who are in form. We are all fighting week in and week out to impress the manager."
Source: © 2009 AFP - Sergei Supinsky
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