Lampard targets World Cup place

The midfielder proved his worth again to England with the winner against Brazil at Wembley, with his 27th goal for his country in his 94th international putting him level with David Platt.

As things stand, Lampard is set to leave Chelsea this northern summer after not being offered a new contract and he has been linked strongly with a move to the United States and Major League Soccer.

But Lampard is aiming to give himself the best opportunity to be in contention to be part of the England squad to go to Brazil - assuming it qualifies.

Lampard said: "Maybe the World Cup is within reach but I'm certainly not getting carried away.

"I know how football is and from squad to squad it can change, and when you get to the age of 34, 35 this summer, people do look upon things differently and fair enough.

"I'm very understanding of where I'm at in my career.

"But if I can continue playing for Chelsea and continue contributing here, whether it's starting or as a valuable squad member, and when I do my bit, then the World Cup is getting a bit nearer.

"It's certainly a target for me and, yes, I will try to keep playing at a good enough level to get there. It's a target. I won't retire from England before that, put it that way.

"I also believe Roy Hodgson is the type of manager who if you are playing well enough, whatever your age, wherever you are, will pick you and I hope that's the case."

When asked if he will seek Hodgson's advice on what to do next in his career, Lampard said: "Maybe but first and foremost I'll seek my own advice, make my own decisions if that makes sense.

"But I'm very competitive and I've got a sniff of the World Cup.

"It's only a sniff because it's a year away and England aren't even there so I shouldn't get carried away.

"But I'll keep performing to my best and whatever decisions I take, I'll take with a view across the board to make myself happy, to try and play the best football I can."

Lampard admits England can now have cause for greater optimism thanks to the form of the fit again Jack Wilshere and the pace now in the side, as demonstrated against Brazil.

He said: "I know Jack is going to be a top player. Only a terrible injury halted him and he has come back and filled straight in.

"I don't want to heap silly pressure on him because he is very young and we shouldn't do that.

"But the way he is performing now, it's up to him how far he wants to go because he is going to be a massive, massive player for England, that's for sure.

"Jack got man of the match and quite rightly so, because he was what he has been since he was back in the Arsenal team.

"I think we were a threat going forward, the pace, and you look at that team now, and you can get a little bit more excited about getting carried away with ourselves.

"You look at our front-line, our front players, and what they can do to the opposition.

"With what Theo (Walcott) is doing to defences every week, what Wayne (Rooney) can do, and we know what Danny Welbeck can do, and all of a sudden we look like we can hurt teams.

"Brazil have got fantastic individuals all over their team but we know what we can do.

"The pace in our team now, the ability when you go right through the 11 and the squad, shows you can handle teams and stand up to teams like Brazil.

"You won't always beat these teams but if you can beat them like we did at Wembley, and go into a World Cup or tournament with that behind us, it is going to give you extra confidence."

However, Lampard admits there is still room for improvement.

He said: "The good thing about us and the management and staff is that there is a desire always to do better.

"I think we could have better possession at times in the game, be more comfortable on the ball, and that goes for all of us.

"But in terms of the work-rate, in terms of the chances we did create when we won the ball back and moved it quickly, they couldn't handle that when we counter-attacked quickly.

"There is certainly improvement to be made but this is a nice step in the right direction."