Chelsea’s Lampard: I Wanted To Be Complete Midfield Player Like Roy Keane

Chelsea’s Frank Lampard has disclosed that former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane was an example he followed in his younger days.

The England international midfielder hailed Keane, who is since last season the manager of Sunderland, in his heydays as the ‘complete midfield player’.

The Blues take on the Black Cats in the Premiership at Stamford Bridge on Saturday and Lampard expects the newly promoted side to epitomise the Keane spirit.

“He was someone to look up to when I was coming through and I played him when I was quite young, and felt the full force of him as an all-round player,” Lampard said on the club’s official website.

“He was the complete midfield player, the type I wanted to be. I was quite in awe of him at one stage when I was a kid. I remember at Manchester United it was so difficult playing against him. He ran the show and it was difficult to get the better of him.

“More than anything I remember his presence on the pitch. You can see how far you are from the top, and it was a tricky prospect to play, especially at Old Trafford.”

He added: “I think facing Sunderland these days is a totally different proposition to three years ago.

“They had lost the spark and they regained that last season. They've brought that up with them, and I've watched them a few times and they have those fighting qualities that Roy Keane had.”