Lampard: New ball is far out

FRANK LAMPARD believes he can take full advantage of the new and lighter World Cup ball to help England's quest for glory in South Africa.

The Chelsea midfielder has already been practising shooting from long range with the Jabulani ball during England's training camp in Austria and Lampard is confident in it being possible to score from almost any distance given the way the ball swerves and moves in the air.

Lampard said: "The ball we will be using in the World Cup does move. I worked on it in Austria.

"It can move and fly over the bar. But, if you catch it right, even from a very long way out, you have a chance (of scoring).

"Even if you don't score, you put the keeper under pressure because it's hard for him to keep hold of the ball. I'll keep taking them."

Lampard is adamant England's up-and-down form during their warm-up programme will have no bearing on how they perform in the finals.

He said: "The manager was pleased with some of the negatives because it has given us a chance to address them now rather than the need to address them at the start of the tournament."