MICAH RICHARDS vowed to “smash” Frank Lampard after he snubbed him in the tunnel before a league game.
The incident happened before Manchester City were thrashed 6-0 by Chelsea in 2007 – a result Richards blamed himself for.
The 35-year-old made 245 appearances for City in his career after breaking into the first team as a highly-promising young defender.
His performances saw him make the England squad for first time in 2006.
And Richards – now a Sky Sports pundit -reflected on how senior players gave him the cold shoulder when domestic football resumed.
He mulled over one game against Chelsea, which came just after he had been on England duty, and how Lampard got inside his head.
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He told the Rest is Football podcast: “So because I’m in England now I feel like I’m one of the guys.
“Gerrard is my mate and Lampard is too. So we finish international break and we were playing Chelsea away.
“Stamford Bridge is a horrible place to go and we used to get tonked there all the time.
“We were in the tunnel lining up and as you’re saying hello to everyone, I tried to say hello to Frank Lampard and he blanks me.
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“So now I’m in my own head, aren’t I? I’m thinking I’m going to smash him the first chance I get.”
However, despite Richards’ best hopes to use Lampard’s apparent snub as a motivational tool, the defender went onto explain how it had the opposite effect.
He added: “Honestly, the highlights in that game it was about 6-0 to Chelsea and I’m at fault for at least five of the goals.”
The conversation left hosts Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer in stitches.
The Match of the Day pundit went onto admit that Lampard later apologetically explained that he was in the “zone”.
Other stars of England’s golden generation have previously gone into the bitter rivalries that hampered the national side’s success.
Including Lampard and Rio Ferdinand, who stopped talking to each other after they left West Ham.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
