Lampard to resume spot-kick duties
Afp, Manchester
Frank Lampard has announced he is ready to resume penalty duties for England after putting his World Cup misery behind him.The Chelsea midfielder was left heartbroken after his miss in the quarterfinal shootout with Portugal contributed to England's downfall in Germany. But on the eve of his country's opening European Championship qualifying game, Lampard says he has shaken off the shattering experience of two months ago and will step forward if England are awarded a penalty. England, ranked five in the world, entertain Andorra, ranked 132nd, in Steve McClaren's first competitive game since taking over from Sven Goran Eriksson. The hosts are expected to win by a handsome margin at Old Trafford on Saturday before facing Macedonia in Skopje in another qualifier next Wednesday. Lampard, who scored from the spot in Chelsea's 2-0 win at Blackburn last Sunday, insisted he would take responsibility should England win a penalty, despite his unhappy experience in Germany. "It's not nice to miss a penalty -- especially when it's in a World Cup quarterfinal," said Lampard, who also failed from the spot in a pre-World Cup friendly with Hungary. "But it goes with the territory. When you miss one or two then you have got to stand up and have the guts to taken another one. "Steve (McClaren) asked me if I wanted to take them and I said yes." Lampard, poised to win his 47th cap for his country, is demanding England turn on the style to appease supporters who felt let down by their country's error-strewn World Cup. He revealed he was at a low ebb in the days after England's elimination, but says those feelings have now been replaced by a bullish spirit which is oozing through the camp following McClaren's appointment. McClaren launched his era with an eye-catching 4-0 friendly win over European champions Greece and Lampard is demanding more of the same on Saturday. "Against Greece we played with pace, ability and desire," added Lampard. "We want to repeat that against Andorra. We want to score a few goals and entertain the crowd. We know we are expected to win these next two games."
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