FRANKS A LOT, DAD

Lamps fired up for glory

FRANK LAMPARD recalls vividly how his father put him on the road to FA Cup glory.

Derby boss Lampard goes into his first FA Cup clash as a manager having lifted the trophy four times as a Chelsea player.

And he has told his men to start out against Southampton today with only one thing in mind – Wembley.

The 40-year-old says there’s no such thing as half measures in football, as he discovered as a kid pounding the streets of London with his West Ham star dad Frank senior.

“My dad took me to one side when I was about six and told me I needed to run the streets, work hard in training and run box to box,” said the former England star.

“For a midfield player it is an obvious necessity to be able to have the energy to be up and down, and fitter than your opponents, and so I try to put that into the players here.

“Did I get it straight away? I had no choice! I was told that hard work would get me possibly to where I wanted to be, so I did get it.

Aim

“The game now is faster, more energetic, more active, and if you don’t have energy levels to deal with it, the game will pass you by. So it is important as a team we have that.” Lampard added: “What’s the aim starting out in the FA Cup? To win it – well, to win against Southampton to start with.”

While Saints’ priority is Premier League survival, boss Ralph Hasenhuttl cannot wait for his first taste of the world’s oldest knockout tournament. “The FA Cup is very special for people here in England,” said the Austrian.

“I can remember as a small boy in Germany and Austria I was always a fan of the FA Cup.

“The FA Cup Final in my youth was an important game. It is the most famous cup in Europe, so the fans want to see us go far in the competition. “The last time the Queen presented the trophy it was to Southampton. Maybe she was thinking it could not get better and then she stopped!”