LEDLEY BACKS LAMPS
He’ll lead us to Premier League says Derby ace
JOE LEDLEY believes Frank Lampard is the man to take Derby back to the Premier League.
The Chelsea and England legend has had talks with the Championship club as they look to replace former boss Gary Rowett – with an announcement expected today.
Derby missed out on promotion at the end of last season and Rowett quickly jumped ship to take charge at Stoke.
Gutted
Lampard is the favourite to replace him and Rams and Wales midfielder Joe Ledley said: “I’d love to work with Frank.
“People are going to be linked with the job because Derby is a top club with good expectations. “Gary signed me at the start of the season so I was gutted to see him go.
“I wish him all the best and it just wasn’t meant to be for us this year. I’m sure he will do a fantastic job at Stoke.
“I’m not sure who is going to come in but if it is Frank we will look forward to working with him and he would certainly grab everyone’s attention.
“He was a great player. I came up against him both at international level and in the Premier League.
“As a midfielder, I think someone like him would only help my game, but we’ll just wait and see.”
Ledley 31, who was without a club at the from ALEX BYWATER in LOS ANGELES
beginning of last season, came so close to a return to the Premier League with Derby.
Under Rowett, the Pride Park outfit were sent packing in the Championship play-off semifinals by Fulham, who went on to seal promotion to the Premier League by beating Aston Villa at Wembley last Saturday.
Ledley added: “We’ve got to be back up there next season. I’m sure if we keep most of the squad and our key players and bring in some quality, then that will happen.
“But there’s no easy seasons in the Championship, because it’s the toughest league in the world.
“And Fulham deserved to go up because they were the best team in the play-offs. Hopefully we can do it next season.”
Ledley, who is on tour in the Unites States with Wales, sat on the bench for both legs of Derby’s Championship play-off defeat.
But he insists he still has plenty of football left in him, both at club and international level.
“I’ll keep going as long as I’m still enjoying it or until my body tells me enough is enough,” he said.
“I’m 31 and need to look after myself but the next Euros is something I’m looking at.
“That’s the goal because we all want to be back in the major competitions.
“Euro 2016 was the time of our lives, so hopefully we can achieve it again. We’ve got a great group now with Wales.
“There are a lot of experienced players, including myself, as well as a lot of new guys who are very promising.”