FRANK Lampard plans to play for Chelsea until 2016 at least – should the club still want him.
The 32-year-old midfielder also admitted he would have preferred his 500 th game for Chelsea at Stoke in a humble Premiership game on Saturday – rather than the match of the season against Manchester United on Wednesday.
The Blues midfielder racks up the milestone when he runs out at Stamford Bridge for the Champions League quarter-final – but hopes he won’t be the focus of attention.
He added: “I kind of would have preferred it to have been against Stoke last Saturday to get it out the way,” he revealed, “but the main thing is to perform to help us get the right result.”
“I'd like to carry on as long as I can play at the level I want to be playing at and the club want me to play. Age 32 is not the 32 it was 10 or 15 years ago if you look after yourself and have the right manager to help you through certain times.
“There are players like Ryan Giggs, Paolo Maldini and Paul Scholes who have gone on to play some of their best football in their later 30s and I would love to be able to do that.”
Boss Carlo Ancelotti reckons his team will get off to the best possible start over the two legs – provided their heads are in the right place.
“If we believe we can play better than Manchester United then we can win.'
“It will be different because we have to play 180 minutes. Obviously we want to start well but we have to know that everything will be decided at Old Trafford.
“Nothing will be decided tomorrow.
'We are focused, concentrated and we want to move on.”
Chelsea will be without the cup-tied David Luiz as well as his fellow Brazil defender Alex, who is still building up his fitness after knee surgery.
But Yossi Benayoun might make his first appearance since September after recovering from a serious Achilles injury.
Sir Alex Ferguson in the red camp is considering Rio Ferdinand for his first start since February 1.
