Lampard gets the vote from the scribes

Soccer/English FA Premiership: Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard, voted footballer of the year yesterday by England's soccer writers after helping his club win their first championship for 50 years, says he thrives on the pressure generated by his manager Jose Mourinho.

Lampard won the award ahead of Chelsea captain John Terry, named player of the year by his fellow professionals two weeks ago, and Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher.

"It's very prestigious," Lampard told reporters at the club's Cobham training ground on Friday. "I've always been confident in myself, I'm proud of what I've achieved.

"You have to be capable of playing in a pressured environment," he added, when asked about Mourinho's plans to add a midfielder to his squad.

"We know how our manager is. There are no favourites - that's the sort of competition our side need. I like the pressure," he added.

Mourinho said yesterday he loved his players but they could not live on past glories and would have to perform next season.

Lampard was rewarded for an outstanding year for club and country, helping Chelsea win the League Cup and the Premier League title and reach the Champions League semi-finals.

Despite his midfield role, the 26-year-old is Chelsea's top scorer this season with 18 goals. He is also remarkably resilient and consistent, holding the Premier League record for consecutive appearances with 143.

"I've worked very hard for it, with all the hours I've put in. When I think about the days when people did doubt me, I get more pleasure from my football."

Lampard, who described himself as a perfectionist, said his aim was to improve further.

"I don't know how much but that's my aim," he said.

His side were motivated to win their last three league matches because they had further goals, including a record points total if they earned five more points and fewest goals conceded if they let in no more than three.

"That would be a nice achievement," he said. "It's not as important as winning the league, but it would be recognition and the club would like it and the players would like it."

Lampard is only the second England international to win the writers' award over the last 10 years, after Teddy Sheringham in 2001. He is the second Chelsea player to win it after Italy's Gianfranco Zola in 1997.

The award by the Football Writers' Association also reflects Lampard's services for England since winning a guaranteed starting slot in central midfield alongside Steven Gerrard shortly before Euro 2004. Lampard scored three goals in England's four games at the finals in Portugal and has seven goals in his last 14 England appearances.

Meanwhile, while Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez was refusing to let his side's continental success mask his frustration at their deficiencies in the Premiership, David Moyes last night enthused publicly for the first time over his team's prospects of joining Europe's elite.

Everton approach this afternoon's visit of mid-table Newcastle aware that victory, allied with anything other than their city rivals winning at Arsenal tomorrow, would secure a qualifier in August for the Champions League. To put that staggering achievement into context, Moyes suggested a fourth-place finish was akin to Chelsea claiming their first title in half a century.

"For us to go from 17th to fourth place in a year would be a large jump and big achievement," said Moyes, his natural caution giving way to optimism. "If we did do that, in my mind, that's as big an achievement as Chelsea winning the Premiership. Deep down, we knew we had a real chance of doing this ever since we first went fourth back in September, and we've not dropped out of the position since.

"The players' ability has got us and kept us there, and it could be done and dusted this weekend. I feel we've earned it. Most people would turn around and say we deserve it. It would be the biggest achievement of my career. We lost some really good players last summer and over the season, including Wayne (Rooney). Who knows where we might have been if we'd kept him?"