Frank Lampard says ‘quitting’ isn’t part of him

London: Veteran midfielder Frank Lampard has said quitting isn’t a part of him after suffering a number of injuries, which threatened his England and Chelsea career.

Lampard once again proved his doubters wrong after scoring a brace during England’s first World Cup qualifying match against Moldova, which they won 5-0. Having been selected for Euro 2012, the 34-year-old suffered a groin injury just before the Three Lions squad flew off to the finals and it looked like the end of his international career, but boss Roy Hodgson insisted he was not finished. Former England boss Fabio Capello put Lampard on the bench against Bulgaria last September and then Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas was trying to dump him from the Blues midfield too, but he was never going to give up on England. “When I got injured in the summer, it was one of those where people must have wondered about me. But I never actually considered finishing with England. I haven’t got it in me,” a daily quoted Lampard, as saying. “I’m not saying I’ll stay available to be picked forever because it becomes obvious at some stage — but it’s not my thing,” he added. “I have learnt over the years not to get caught up in the ‘he’s too old’ talk and stuff. It was a bit of a tough time. I was in and out with England and in and out with Chelsea, too, and I was a bit frustrated with that,’ he said. Lampard added: “But you realise there can be ups and downs, especially with England because there is a lot of competition in the squad so I just believed I could keep going and keep playing.” ANI