Capello warns Lampard he may be out for good

Chelsea star told his form must improve if he wants his England place back

Steve Tongue
Saturday 03 September 2011 19:00 EDT
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Lampard has been warned that he cannot expect to win his place back without improvement
Lampard has been warned that he cannot expect to win his place back without improvement (getty images)

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Chelsea's Frank Lampard, unexpectedly dropped for England's 3-0 win over Bulgaria on Friday night, has been warned that he cannot expect to win his place back without an improvement in training and club games.

The England camp have been disappointed with his form in Chelsea's early season matches and he has only a couple of training sessions, starting today, to push for a place in Tuesday's home game against Wales.

Until Friday, when he appeared only for the last 10 minutes in place of Gareth Barry, Lampard would have been expected to join the select band of players winning 100 England caps. He is now on 87 but as well as displacing either Barry or Scott Parker he will face the challenge of Steven Gerrard and Jack Wilshere when fit.

"He's one of the best English midfielders but I need to choose the players and not the name," Fabio Capello said on Friday night. "The first two games that he played [for Chelsea] were not good. I need to choose the player in a good moment of form."

Wayne Rooney's two goals took his total to seven in four games for club and country this season and his mutual appreciation with the England supporters has been revived. A minor injury will not keep Rooney out of the Wales game.

Uefa will today receive a report from the match delegate into the sporadic racist chanting from Bulgarian supporters. The Football Association, who have made an official complaint, are hoping for more than a token fine for a country who are not new to this sort of offence.

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