MATCHES COUNT

There has been a lot of talk surrounding the club future of the England midfielder Frank Lampard, but the England manager Roy Hodgson has revealed that the midfielder is even more worried about his international future.

Lampard is out of contract with Chelsea at the end of the season and there has been no new offer from the club. At 34 years of age, he has been linked with a move to the MLS in order to get one final payday. Hodgson has revealed that Lampard should stay closer to England in order to continue featuring for the England national team.

Lampard has been one of the first-team regulars for the national team over the last decade. He is just a handful of appearances short of reaching the 100th appearance landmark. His Chelsea teammate Ashley Cole recently achieved this landmark and became only the seventh player to do so. Lampard scored the second goal for England in the recent friendly match against Brazil to give the team the 2-1 victory, which also turned out to be the first win for England against Brazil in more than 23 years. Even though not recognised by the fans, Lampard has been an important aspect of the England team over the last decade.

"He [Lampard] is concerned about it. It's a bit of a difficult situation for him because he's not sure exactly what his future is. It's not for me to comment on what goes on between him and his club but the one thing I know is that he is anxious to keep competing for a place in the England team. I'm rather hoping he'll still be either here or in Europe because that will make it easier for us to keep picking him," said Hodgson after the Brazil match. Lampard has made 94 appearances for the England team.