3/1 To Win
Leading Derby County out at Wembley Stadium will be up there with one of his finest achievements in football, Frank Lampard admitted.
It’s a stadium the manager is well accustomed to.
Cup finals with Chelsea, crucial qualifying games for England, Lampard did it all as a player.
However, this time, it’s a lot different.
The Rams boss, who is in his first year of management following a glittering playing career, will lead his side out at the home of English football on Monday in the Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final against Aston Villa.
“This is right up there in terms of the personal achievement and how I feel,” Lampard admitted, speaking to RamsTV.
“I probably forget as my career was a while ago now but that feeling that I had pre-Leeds in the Play-Off Semi Finals and how much I, the players and the fans, wanted to win that game was something special.
“To get over that hurdle was a huge feeling but the dust has settled. We are in the final and we’ve not won anything yet so this is the big one.
“It goes right up there in terms of how I feel going into it as all the major games I was lucky to take part in as a player.
“I will be proud. I’m walking out as a manager of a team and squad that have done fantastically well, regardless of the result on Monday.
“I’m hugely proud of what we have achieved this year but more importantly than that, I am proud to represent this club.
“The fans, the club, what it means, the owner, the people behind the scenes, that’s been a big deal for me this season. This is a culmination of all that. I will be a bit nervous, but I will certainly be proud.”
As a player, Lampard was someone who relished the big occasions.
Wembley was a place where the Rams boss had some of his best days as a player and he can pass on some knowledge of the historic stadium to his players ahead of Monday.
“It’s an incredible stadium, one of the most iconic in the world,” he said. “It was an absolute pleasure to play in. If you don’t win, it’s not the best feeling but what I would say, it is a stadium you should enjoy.
“Finals can sometimes make it tense, make players and everyone nervous but this is an occasion I want the players to enjoy.
“I remember growing up watching the old Wembley, the Twin Towers and the magic of it watching from the sofa on FA Cup Final day and watching England play there as a young boy.
“It had that magic and the new stadium has the same. It is a fantastic arena. You can see it when you drive up to it, the minute you see the arch, it’s goosebumps and the real deal so you know as a player what it means.
“It’s important that we all suck it in and enjoy it because it doesn’t come around all the time and you want to leave a good imprint when you play there.
“We are a mixture of players who have already been there, they need to lead it and talk to the younger players, but for the players who haven’t, it is important they know what is coming.
“It’s a big, huge stadium, vast in its size, the pitch can feel big, certainly feel that this is something special.
“We have to try and make sure we are ready for all the eventualities for the first hit of seeing it and being on it and that we play relaxed. I want the players to be relaxed and play as good as they can.”
