Frank Lampard couldn't have been more miserable at around half-past seven on Sunday evening.

His Chelsea team had been cruelly robbed of a point at Liverpool by Michael Owen's last-minute goal.

And the downcast mood of the players wasn't helped by a delay in their team coach reaching Liverpool airport to catch a flight back to London, so they didn't really know what time they would be arriving home.

Then, Frank's mobile phone rang - with his dad on the line.

"I had been to Anfield to watch Frank play and was driving back home when I heard the England squad announced on the radio," explains Frank Senior.

"I gave Frank a call straight away - I thought he might already be in the air but there had been some sort of delay

"The Chelsea lads hadn't got access to the TV or radio so when I told Frank it was the first he had heard of it.

"His first words were 'Oh good!' and he was obviously pleased about it. But he clearly didn't want to make a song and dance about it at the time because the Chelsea lads were really disappointed by the result at Liverpool. It was gutting for them to concede so late after playing so well."

Lampard's inclusion ahead of Lee Bowyer and Joe Cole raised some eyebrows but the player himself says it shouldn't have come as that much of a shock.

"You can never take an England place for granted but I have been playing well and you know the England coach keeps close tabs on what ever player's form is like," he said.

"I was left out of the last squad but all you can do is keep playing well for your club."

Lampard, 24, has won seven England caps and played in every friendly game last season - until the World Cup squad was announced.

He missed out on the Far East and wasn't named for last month's friendly against Portugal.

But he has arguably been Chelsea's best player in a mixed start for the club, scoring in last Thursday's UEFA Cup defeat at Viking Stavanger and competing well against Steve Gerrard in central midfield at Anfield.

His father Frank Sr had a career before becoming chief message-giver for his son! He was capped twice by England as a player with West Ham and later served Harry Redknapp as assistant-manager at West Ham and Portsmouth.

Joe Bernstein