Ranieri’s rotation policy putting latest victim Lampard in a spin

FRANK LAMPARD has become the second Chelsea player to express his frustration at Claudio Ranieri’s squad rotation after expressing his disappointment at being axed for Tuesday night's Champions League clash.

England midfielder Lampard had started all six of Chelsea’s previous matches this season but was named only on the bench for the opening Group G match at Sparta Prague.

“It hurt because I want to play in the Champions League, it’s a big thing for me and everyone else,” Lampard said. “It’s difficult because I’ve played regularly for five years now and I was disappointed to be on the bench. It’s a unique situation at Chelsea, however, with the squad we have here and you understand you’re not going to play every game.”

Lampard’s frustration followed record £17million signing Damien Duff, who complained before the game about having been substituted in every game he had played this season for Chelsea. Duff was also on the bench from the start in Prague, although at half-time he went on for Adrian Mutu while Lampard replaced Emmanuel Petit.

“All you can do when you come on is to make a difference,” said Lampard. “Hopefully I’ve showed enough so that in the next Champions League games I will start.

“We have a lot of big players here and professionals want to play. I’m no different and if I’m on top of my game I feel I’m able to play a full part in every competition. Playing in the Champions League can only help me improve as a player and that is what I want. The Champions League game is similar to the one we play at international level.”

Chelsea showed they have not yet gelled as a team but came away with victory thanks to an 85th-minute William Gallas goal.

Lampard added: “They played like an away team and we knew they were going to do that but they defended quite well until they tired. We created a lot of chances though and I thought we thoroughly deserved our win.

“Even at 0-0 we sensed we would win which was why William Gallas was up there in their box to score with five minutes left. This result will give us plenty of confidence for the rest of the group programme.”

Lampard’s former West Ham colleague Glen Johnson reflected on his first Champions League group experience. The England U21 full-back, who had played just 14 Premiership matches before Chelsea paid £6m for him during the summer, added: “This is a new experience for me. You are playing up against a different kind of opponent. In the Premiership there are more tackles, it’s more of a battle but against Sparta you had to be sensible - if you tackled hard, they would sometimes roll around the pitch.