Lampard keen to stick around at Stamford Bridge

Frank Lampard is a man who clearly feels like he has the talent, drive, and determination to warrant a place in Chelsea's starting line-up week in, week out, in all competitions domestic and European.

This season, though, Andre Villas-Boas appears to have felt otherwise, favouring the likes of Raul Meireles over the England star despite Lampard excelling in a number of goalscoring cameo sub appearances and in particular lighting up Chelsea's away win at Bolton earlier this season in a rare start.

With Lampard making a few less than respectful comments in the press regarding the decision from the Chelsea manager not to start with him in the middle of the park on a regular basis, some soccer betting tips had begun to speculate that his future may lie on foreign shores, with a rumoured big money move to the riches of the MLS hitting the back pages just last week.

Now, though, the Chelsea star, who this week scored his 179th goal for the club against Wolves, has revealed that he desperately wants to stay with the Blues as he bids to help the Chelsea old guard prove themselves not to be a fading force in the English Premier League. Lampard revealed: "We need our big players with John Terry, who was magnificent at the back [against Wolves]. The spine of the team is what has made us what we are in the last seven years. I think it's important".

With the Chelsea midfielder continuing to state that he is "very committed" but the live soccer betting suggesting he may leave, the fact remains that Andre Villas-Boas will need to ensure that the current rumours of unrest in the club's dressing room remain just that: rumours rather than facts, or else risk seeing that Champions League qualification become a distant dream.