Frank Lampard talks about England's World Cup chances

Bengaluru, October 9: Former Chelsea and England midfielder Frank Lampard believes the lesser expectations surrounding Gareth Southgate’s England side could open the door to surprise success at next summer’s World Cup finals.

England secured their place in Russia 2018 with an unconvincing 1-0 win against Solvenia at Wembley on Thursday (October 5), with Harry Kane’s late goal not enough to lift the mood of the home fans despite unbeaten qualification to the World Cup next year in Russia.

Lampard was part of several England sides that went into World Cup carrying huge expectations from fans and ultimately fail at the biggest tournament of world football.

Lampard believes that the amount of expectation from Southgate’s England side will be much lesser next year with a pessimism surrounding them and that might actually help the Three Lions.

“I have been there and I know how it felt to play for England at a major tournament,” said BT Sport pundit Lampard, in an interview with Yahoo Sport.

“There was huge expectation we were dealing with and while it never really affected me, maybe others were weighed down by it.

“When you win a big game with England, the reaction is fantastic and then when you lose, it goes other way. It can be difficult to deal with what is at stake at a World Cup, but you have to be able to handle it as an England player and we are not alone in setting the bar high, but maybe it has affected the team from time to time.

“Now it feels like the anticipation around the England team has dipped compared to my times in the squad and that might be a good thing. Let’s keep expectations at a controlled level and then we might surprise ourselves and a few other nations next summer.

“It’s going to be tough in Russia next summer, but we have to go into the tournament with a real sense of hope. We have Harry Kane leading the line, Dele Alli emerging as one of the best young players in the game and plenty more in that squad who have the potential to be great.

“It is good to keep expectations at a lower level and then we might surprise ourselves and a few other nations because there is no doubt we have some top quality players in this England team now.”