Lampard never thought about 'quitting' despite career-threatening injuries

Veteran midfielder Frank Lampard [2] has said quitting isn't a part of him after suffering a number of injuries, which threatened his England [3] and Chelsea [4] career.

Lampard once again proved his doubters wrong after scoring a brace during England's first World Cup qualifying match against Moldova, which they won 5-0.

Having been selected for Euro 2012, the 34-year-old suffered a groin injury just before the Three Lions [5] squad flew off to the finals and it looked like the end of his international career [6], but boss Roy Hodgson insisted he was not finished.

Former England boss Fabio Capello put Lampard on the bench against Bulgaria last September and then Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas was trying to dump him from the Blues midfield too, but he was never going to give up on England.

"When I got injured in the summer, it was one of those where people must have wondered about me. But I never actually considered finishing with England. I haven't got it in me," The Sun quoted Lampard, as saying.

"I'm not saying I'll stay available to be picked forever because it becomes obvious at some stage - but it's not my thing," he added.

"I have learnt over the years not to get caught up in the 'he's too old' talk and stuff. It was a bit of a tough time. I was in and out with England and in and out with Chelsea [7], too, and I was a bit frustrated with that,' he said.

Lampard added: "But you realise there can be ups and downs, especially with England [8] because there is a lot of competition in the squad so I just believed I could keep going and keep playing." (ANI [9])

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