Joe Cole insists Frank Lampard has the character to overcome being the latest target of the England boo boys.


Lampard was jeered when he came on as a second-half substitute during the comfortable 3-0 win over Estonia in Saturday's Euro 2008 qualifier at Wembley.


Striker Peter Crouch and midfielder Owen Hargreaves have also received similar treatment at various times during the past two years.

Cole is perplexed as to why Lampard, who has lost his starting spot to Gareth Barry, has joined that list.

But he is backing him to come through with flying colours as England begin preparations for Wednesday's vital clash with Russia in Moscow.

Cole said: 'For me, Frank is one of the best players in the world. He has never let England down.

'He has been England's player of the year. It amazes me that people can do that.

'I can't believe it. He is one of the best players I have played with. I can't remember him having too many average games in an England shirt.

'But Frank is a strong character. If anyone is a strong enough character to deal with that, it is Frank.

'It is not nice when it happens to anyone. But Frank will come through this and show people what a top player he is.'

England will have to contend with playing on an artificial pitch in Moscow but Cole believes that should not affect their level of performance as they look for the win which will ensure qualification for the 2008 finals.

He said: 'Russia are going to be a different kettle of fish to Estonia. It is going to be tough. They are a good side and when they lost 3-0 here the scoreline did not do them justice.

'People go on about the plastic pitch but, for me, the ball is still going to be round and it is still going to be 11 versus 11 and there no excuses.

'I have played on Hackney Marshes so I am sure it will be better than those! We certainly don't fear the artificial pitch.'

Cole feels the game against Estonia, settled by three goals in the first half, was perfect preparation for the battle with the Russians.

He said: 'It was a good performance. It was one of those games where you can make it difficult for yourselves, which we have done in the past, or you can make it comfortable.

'Our attitude, the way we came out and went straight at them, made it nice and comfortable. I'd be happy to be 3-0 up after 30 minutes in every game.

'We were able to make sure a couple of players didn't over-exert themselves in the last half-hour so we will be nice and fresh for Wednesday. It was a good build-up for the Russia game.

Manager Steve McClaren has vowed there will be no excuses for England if they fail the `field turf' test in Moscow on Wednesday.


The 3-0 win over Estonia at Wembley means McClaren's side will book their place at Euro 2008 if they can emerge victorious from their meeting with Russia at the Luzhniki Stadium.


Having already put three goals past Guus Hiddink's side on their previous encounter last month and now extended their winning streak in competitive combat to five games, which have yielded 15 goals including, finally, one for Wayne Rooney, England can approach their challenge in confident mood.

The only lingering worry is how the Three Lions will adapt to the synthetic surface on which UEFA have agreed the match will take place.

However, while the first chance his players will have for outdoor practice on the surface will come at the Thomas Holford Catholic College in Altrincham on Monday, McClaren is playing down the significance of not playing on grass.

'The pitch is not an issue,' he said.

'We have looked at research extending over 100 matches and there is no difference to a grass pitch at all. The game is no different.

'The loss of possession is the same, there are the same number of headers and tackles and it doesn't bounce high.

'It is a flat pitch and there is absolutely no excuse.'

McClaren's one, unspoken worry, is that the Russian authorities may alter the state of the surface between England's planned training session on Tuesday and kick-off time.

Celtic suffered a similar experience prior to their Champions League qualifier with Spartak Moscow earlier this season, although even then, Gordon Strachan's side were not too adversely affected given the went home with a draw which eventually proved enough to steer them into the group phase.

FA officials have spoken to UEFA about the matter but, having made their opinions known to the governing body, they are now eager to leave the matter in the hands of the official delegate and take whatever comes in their stride.

Certainly, there is no need for McClaren's team to let their focus stray following the latest in a string of impressive results.

While Estonia were never likely to prove anything more than obdurate opponents, the ease with which they were dispatched in an excellent first half pleased McClaren immensely.

In fact, just about the only thing that went badly wrong in the entire 90 minutes was the loss of Ashley Cole to an ankle injury which has ruled him out of this week's showdown, and possibly for quite a while afterwards too judging by the pain he was in as he was carried down the tunnel on a stretcher.

The frustration for McClaren was that he was about to take Cole off, just as he had done with Rio Ferdinand at half-time, to ensure the Chelsea man did not pick up a yellow card that would have seen him incur a one-match ban.

'We were looking at taking Ashley off to keep him out of trouble,' confirmed McClaren.

'Unfortunately that did not happen, but incidents like that can occur in the first minute as well as the 46th.'

McClaren has drafted in Luke Young and also has Nicky Shorey, Phil Neville and Joleon Lescott available. The latter was handed his debut as a half-time replacement for Ferdinand, but appeared slightly off the pace as England faded.

'I am 95% sure about what I am going to do,' said the England coach, whose catch-all statement could also include a rejigging of his midfield to include Steven Gerrard, man-of-the-match Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard, possibly at the expense of Shaun Wright-Phillips, who scored the opening goal.

One man certain of his place is Wayne Rooney, who ended a goal drought in competitive internationals dating back to Euro 2004, when he was still an Everton player.

In praising the Manchester United striker's honest admission about two years of below-par performances for England earlier this week, McClaren also added the warning his 21-year-old forward was still far from the finished product.

By labelling Rooney as `potentially world-class', McClaren was delivering the kind of back-handed compliment guaranteed to draw a reaction. The trick worked a treat.

'When players of this standard receive criticism, they have to prove themselves on the pitch,' said the England coach.

'That is exactly what Wayne has done. Now he has to do it consistently.

'He admitted himself he had a point to prove and he has gone a long way to doing that.

'We all know Wayne is a threat and I repeat, he has the potential to be world class. I am delighted with his goal but his overall contribution to the team was very good. He got better and better as the game went on.