Frank Lampard: There will be no hole left in the English game by me and Steven Gerrard

Frank Lampard will be given an appreciative farewell by Manchester City fans when he plays his final Premier League match this afternoon.

In stark contrast to Steven Gerrard’s Anfield goodbye, with all its unbridled emotion, the other half of the

most-famous midfield double act of the Premier League era will bow out with much less fanfare.

Both are now heading for America to finish their careers in the MLS, but Lampard has missed out on the sort of love-in that his long-time England team-mate enjoyed with Liverpool fans.

He wishes that he could have enjoyed a similar moment with the Chelsea fans who supported him for 13 years and with whom he shared 11 major trophies, but there’s no bitterness.

“I would have liked to have left Chelsea with a home game to say goodbye but I didn’t get it,” he says. “I was told I was leaving the week after the last home match.

“But I didn’t need the fanfare. My fanfare was looking back on nights like the victory in Munich and winning the League at Bolton.

“I had a mini-goodbye after I scored for City against them and their travelling fans gave me amazing applause.

“I’m ready for today. It’s been dawning on me, watching Steve have his last home game, which was a huge event.

“But I’d prepared myself last summer. My mind was set on not playing in the Premier League again. This time at City came out of nowhere.

“I’ve heard people saying that Steve and I will leave a big hole in the Premier League.

“But this is the greatest league in the world. There are great players here already. Others will step up. Young boys we don’t even know now will change the face of it.

“But I’m certainly proud to have played my part for such a long time.”

While Gerrard’s break will be clean, Lampard’s has been more complicated.

What appeared to be a short-term loan at City while he waited for sister club, New York City, to get off the ground turned into something different when it was revealed that he’d be staying at the Etihad rather than reporting for the MLS campaign.

It left a slightly sour taste on both sides of the Atlantic.

“A lot was made out of that but it was certainly not of my doing,” he says.

“I signed with the right ideas and intentions and it was all very genuine but unfortunately it got painted a different way.

“I’m very keen to go over there and play. If you show the right attitude and show what you can do on the pitch people will understand.

“New York is the perfect challenge. I love the city and I’m genuinely excited.

“I had ideas of moving abroad when I was younger but the only realistic opportunity was to go to Inter Milan when Jose Mourinho (right) was there.

“It came at a difficult stage of my life because I’d recently lost my mum.

“I decided against it and I’m pleased I did because of what I achieved at Chelsea afterwards.

“Winning the Champions League was the best day of my career by some distance.

“I’d had a few years when I was on top of my game. Then you get past 30 and after every bad game people write you off.

“I accepted that it was going to be a different career but funnily enough they were some of my most successful years.

“I won the Champions League, the Europa League and broke the club goalscoring record under managers who weren’t picking me as regularly. You’re not going to have it all your own way. But if you keep your head down and work, you get there.

“John Terry is a bit like me. He wants to prove people wrong. He’s shown it 100 times over this year and I’m delighted for him.

“I know his talent, his determination and his fitness. Eden Hazard will get the accolades but John’s been just as important for Chelsea. He always is.”

That work ethic has been at the core of Lampard’s career, starting with countless extra hours on the training pitch at West Ham, where fans felt he was being favoured because his dad was coach and his uncle, Harry Redknapp, was manager.

“There has to be a natural talent,” he says. “But for any young player my emphasis would be on hard work, living right and listening to people.

“The game is getting tougher. I’m finishing at a pretty good time. It’s going to get even more physical and technical.

“I wasn’t a saint. I had some moments when I was younger, but it’s about learning lessons. I think I did that.

“I got rollickings from my mum and dad in those so-called wilder days but I realised I had to completely focus on my football.

“The modern world is much more about celebrity, how much money you can make.

“We have to help the young boys. There are hurdles in life and you don’t always jump them cleanly.

“On the flip side there are boys out there who work hard and are great role models.

“Look at Harry Kane, a boy who’s been on loan loads of times. He’s come through with dedication and talent to become one of the top strikers in world football this year.”

Lampard has made no decisions on what happens after his contract in New York is up. TV work is an obvious option and he hopes to start taking his coaching badges in America.

“I’ve never got too far ahead of myself,” he says. “But I’m fortunate to be able to say I have no regrets.

“The one regret would have been if I didn’t work hard enough to get every bit out of my career. I think I did that.”