Lampard fears City's riches will see them last the course

Chelsea midfielder sees Eastlands as mirror image of Abramovich revolution

(AFP/Getty)

Manchester City's revival under Mark Hughes has been largely greeted with scepticism, with cynics arguing that it is only a matter of time before the dressing room falls apart and the club slides to another crisis.

But Frank Lampard, a key figure in Chelsea's rise to becoming one of the powerhouses of the English game, can see strong parallels between events at Eastlands and those at Stamford Bridge six years ago, when Roman Abramovich bought the club and bankrolled a major spending spree.

The first season at Chelsea under Abramovich, when Claudio Ranieri was still the manager, the Premier League's perennial underachievers finished second and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. A season later they were Premier League champions with Jose Mourinho as their loud-mouthed manager, a feat they repeated in 2006.

Lampard has seen enough this season to suggest Manchester City could remain in the title race until the end of the season. The high-spending club have lost just once in the Premier League, defying predictions they would flatter to deceive. Lampard predicts City will remain strong.

"The top four is more under threat this year with the emergence of Man City and the money they have got," Lampard said yesterday. "Normally the four rise to the top. I think Man City will be different, I think they will stay the course. If you spend £150m then you should stay the course.

"We did the same obviously here six years ago and it wasn't easy in year one. Year two and year three is where you really gauge [your progress] and I am sure they are looking at the same things we were at that time. So it remains to be seen. They have bought players who have been there before. Individually, if you look at them, Carlos Tevez, Kolo Touré and Emmanuel Adebayor, they have been in very successful teams. They can do it, for sure."

Lampard was the last to leave the Stamford Bridge pitch on Wednesday night, as he saluted the fans cheering Chelsea's untroubled 4-0 victory over Atletico Madrid. His relief at ending his run of 13 games for club and country without a goal was understandable. And no doubt it was shared by Carlo Ancelotti, as Lampard's lack of goals had been cited as evidence that the new manager's tactical changes were stifling one of his most potent weapons. Lampard has maintained a remarkable scoring record since he joined Chelsea from West Ham for what now seems a bargain £11m in 2001. His strike against Atletico brought his total to 133 Chelsea goals in his 440th game, a strike ratio of a goal every 3.3 games, which makes his stuttering start to the season all the more surprising.

It was felt Lampard would thrive under the guidance of Ancelotti, who discarded Chelsea's wingers in favour of packing the midfield. But instead Lampard, 31, was being asked to perform a new role, just as he has done under Fabio Capello, for England, playing a deeper role, anchoring the midfield in tandem with Manchester City's Gareth Barry. For Chelsea, Lampard has shifted around the midfield formation and he confessed his lack of goals had started to bother him.

"I have been a goalscoring midfielder for most of my career and it should play on your mind because if you don't put pressure on yourself you won't be at the top," Lampard said.