Lampard wins appeal against red card

FRANK LAMPARD will be available for Chelsea’s next three fixtures after a Football Association regulatory commission rescinded the red card shown to the England international during Sunday’s 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.

The referee, Mike Riley, dismissed Lampard after a challenge on Xabi Alonso, although television replays of the incident suggested the midfielder had won the ball, with Alonso then making contact with the Chelsea player’s right shin. “At an independent regulatory commission hearing today, a claim for wrongful dismissal from Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard was upheld,” confirmed an FA spokesman. “As a result, Lampard’s three-match suspension has been withdrawn.”

It is the second time in the past 12 months that Lampard has made a successful claim against a sending-off for violent conduct. In March 2008 a ban following a red card awarded at West Ham – when an assistant referee claimed the midfielder had slapped Luis Boa Morte in the face – was similarly quashed.

Meanwhile Petr Cech believes Chelsea must “win every game” if they are to challenge for the Premier League title following the defeat at Anfield. The team are five points behind Manchester United, who have a game in hand, and three behind Liverpool.

“We need to win every game,” said the Chelsea goalkeeper. “There is no good in beating Arsenal away and dropping points against Hull at home, because then an away win at Arsenal doesn’t make any difference.”

The Czech international still believes it’s possible for Chelsea to win the title, though, because similar gaps have been closed in previous seasons. “Eight points in football, especially in the Premier League, means anything can happen. You can see that from last year. Arsenal were eight points clear and ended up third, so we will keep playing, we will try to keep winning and we will put the pressure on the others.”

Cech believes Chelsea were unfortunate to lose to Liverpool. “We were a bit unlucky and all the small details went against us, so it is up to us to think about it, because that is down to our concentration,” he said. “But we need to try to sort it out. For a long time against Liverpool they got nothing from all the corners and free-kicks, but they finally scored from a cross.”

Meanwhile, Mark Hughes has spoken of his frustration over Manchester City’s inability to prise Roque Santa Cruz away from Blackburn Rovers. Hughes intends to go back to his former club at the end of the season and trigger an €20 million release clause in Santa Cruz’s contract, but he admitted his side are badly lacking a target man and, privately, he considers it a bigger blow than the failed €100 million bid for Kaka.

“We’ve got a lot of technically gifted players but not many of great [physical] stature,” said Hughes. “Our interest in Santa Cruz was well known because we sometimes lack that physical presence [in attack]. Sometimes you need to put the ball into the right areas in the box and things will drop for you. At the moment we do not have that option.”