Frank Lampard is still having fun with England despite having a decade of loyal service under his belt.

The Chelsea star won his 75th cap on Saturday, 10 years after he made his debut against Belgium.

And while a defeat by Ukraine was not the way Lampard wanted to celebrate, it has not dampened his hopes of reaching the magic century of appearances.

The 31-year-old should be involved tomorrow, when Fabio Capello's men complete their World Cup qualifying campaign against Belarus. And he admits he finds the England scene as enjoyable now as he has ever done.

"I am pleased with how my career with England has gone," said Lampard.

"In fact I am probably enjoying it now as much as I have ever done.

"I was disregarded for a couple of years - probably quite rightly because I don't think I was ready to play regularly for my country then - and I have had my ups and downs.

"But anyone who has played for 10 years has probably had the same kind of thing. I am very proud to have reached this level. Now I want to go on and make it 100."

Taking a rounded view of that early appearance under Kevin Keegan and the sporadic selections by Sven-Goran Eriksson that followed an 18-month interlude, Lampard's main gripe has been the expectation that has surrounded the Three Lions during his time.

The problem started with a golden generation label, which was given to the squad by then FA chief executive Adam Crozier, who is now in the firing line as head of the Royal Mail.

"And look what happened to him," shrugged Lampard, when informed of the culprit.

"It was frustrating," he said. "As players, we just went out and played. But it kept getting mentioned.

"By calling us that it was almost as if people were waiting for us to fail. The golden generation should only be said once you have won something.

"The team that won the World Cup in 1966 was a golden generation.

"It was said much too early about us but people picked up on it.

"They are very talented individuals but we have not made the most of it. We have all held our hands up to that many times."

After sending Wayne Rooney back to Manchester United on Sunday, Fabio Capello will be under pressure not to take chances with Steven Gerrard, who limped out of Saturday's defeat at the Dnipro Arena with a groin injury, so Aston Villa's Gabriel Agbonlahor could start his first competitive game.

It seems Rio Ferdinand will be handed a chance to atone for the error which ended up with Robert Green becoming the first England goalkeeper to be sent off and brought damning criticism of Lampard's long-time England team-mate

"The universal view is that Rio has been one of the most consistent central defenders in Europe over the last five years," he said.

"He would be the first one to say he made a mistake on Saturday. But I would much rather make a mistake against Ukraine than when the big games start.

"That is when you need big players. Rio has played in two World Cups and been outstanding in both of them. That says it all really."