Lampard defends Crouch

Frank Lampard has defended England team-mate Peter Crouch after the Liverpool striker was sent off for a two-footed lunge on Mikel John Obi during their Carling Cup quarter-final tie.

Chelsea earned a place in the semi-finals thanks to second-half goals from Lampard and Andriy Shevchenko but the victory was overshadowed by Crouch’s moment of madness just seconds after the Blues had opened the scoring in the 59th minute.

Referee Martin Atkinson immediately dismissed the Liverpool striker but boss Rafa Benitez claimed the player was provoked into retaliating after being kicked a number of times by Mikel.

And Lampard insists the England forward would never deliberately set out to hurt another player.

Lampard declared: “Peter Crouch is a great lad and I think everyone knows that if he made a bit of a bad tackle, which it looked, then I’m sure he’s sort of the fellow that will hold his hands up.

“He’s not like that at all, there’s no malice in him, sometimes these things happen. He’d never try to hurt someone, I think there’s times where players, as human beings, make a rash tackle. We’ve all done it and Peter would be the first lad that wouldn’t hurt anyone, but it has happened and we move on.”

Chelsea now face Everton in the two-legged Carling Cup semi-final next month but Lampard is already looking to reach a landmark 100 goals for the club before then.

He took his tally to 99 with the opener against Liverpool and is hoping to reach the century against Blackburn on Sunday.

Lampard added: “I’m looking forward to getting my 100th goal. It would be a big achievement for me to get that mark in six-and-a-half seasons.

“Reaching this mark was something I wouldn’t have dreamed of doing when I first came here – so I hope I can get it done pretty soon and look to future landmarks.

“I feel very proud when I see the names I’m alongside or getting towards - players like Peter Osgood and Jimmy Greaves. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to reach their levels, but it’ll be very nice to be in that club.”

Meanwhile, Germany captain Michael Ballack has spoken of his surprise at suggestions he was unhappy with his treatment from Chelsea’s medical team as he recovered from an ankle injury.

The midfielder, who returned to first-team action against Liverpool for the first time in eight months, insists he is grateful for all his club’s efforts to get him back to fitness.

Ballack said: “The Chelsea medical department has made its best possible efforts.

“I am very grateful for the work that everyone has done – in particular the physios – over the last couple of months in order to get me finally back on the field. Now I am ready to repay all their hard work by doing my best for Chelsea.”