• ‘I’ll always stay completely behind Chelsea’
• Midfielder believes team should rely on old ’spine’

Frank Lampard is still committed to Chelsea despite no longer being an automatic choice but he believes the team should rely on its old “spine” rather than build a new foundation as André Villas-Boas wishes.

Lampard scored the late winner in Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday in a rare start for the club. Asked if his future is still at Chelsea Lampard said: “It is, I’m very committed – the thing for me is that it’s much easier when I’m starting games and playing regular matches and ninety minutes to get into the rhythm I’ve found since I’ve been here.

“That’s what I love doing. The boss is the boss. He picks the team. Personally, I think that’s when I’m at my best. I’ll always stay completely behind the cause of Chelsea because that’s me now. Chelsea’s my club.”

Lampard’s current deal finishes in the summer of next year but the club has yet to signal whether a fresh contract will be offered. The midfielder also sought to play down stories of a dressing-room revolt.

“We’ve been here before. There’s always a big spotlight on Chelsea,” he said. “When the results go the way they have done people talk that way. It’s very important the big players in the dressing room stand up. It’s us that can go out and play and make the difference to show the travelling fans today what we’re about. Really as a group we just need to play on the pitch and then them stories go away.”

Against Wolves, Chelsea appeared to be heading for a disappointing draw when Stephen Ward equalised in the 84th minute before Lampard made one of his signature runs to finish moments before the end. Following the mistake that led to Aston Villa scoring when Chelsea lost 3-1 at the weekend, Lampard stated he had seized the opportunity to make amends.

The 33-year-old said: “In terms of this game, I hope I did. But we need those big players like John Terry who was magnificent at the back. The spine of the team is what’s made us what we are over the past seven years. It’s important whether we’re changing the team. Of course, I understand that things change with time. But what we’re about is that spine to an extent. So it’s nice to see big players who’ve been there a long time producing the goods.

“After a very bad day at the office [against Villa], it was great to get an opportunity to play again and put it right. When you see that amount of fans travel up and sing throughout the game, everyone here with a Chelsea heart deserves that.”

Having not been in the Champions League places on New Year’s Day for only the second time since Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003, the win at Molineux took Chelsea back to fourth, eight points behind Manchester United and Manchester City having played a match more.

Can Chelsea still win the title? “I don’t know, it’s a long way but seeing the results that have happened over the past few days you have to be aware that it can happen. I hate to write it off, you are realistic – it would be a very big feat to do it,” Lampard said. “But last year we were a long way away but we came back to within three games of winning the league. With three games to go we could have won it when we lost to Man United.”

Lampard admitted that not being in the top four on 1 January should drive the team on. He said: “It has to. I get the hump looking at the table and see we’re not fighting within a point or two of the lead – never mind being in that situation. We all have to have the hump with that and make sure we react. The players in this squad need to be fighting for the league and now there’s a big gap. But you have to have that mindset, because the minute you lose that mindset, that’s the minute you become a top four team as opposed to a team that’s challenging for the title.”

Fernando Torres started in the absence of Didier Drogba but he again failed to score. Lampard added: ” It’s not been easy for Torres, he hasn’t been playing that much, you need that edge. But he showed a lot of glimpses of what he’s all about.”

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• Newcastle manager says he is determined to keep midfielder
• Ivory Coast star linked with Manchester United and Chelsea

Alan Pardew has warned rival clubs it will be “very, very difficult” to tempt Newcastle to sell the Ivory Coast midfielder Cheik Tiote in the January transfer window.

Newcastle secured Tiote on a new six-and-a-half-year contract early this year after his impressive start to life in England. He has since been linked with several clubs, including Manchester United and Chelsea, and Newcastle are bracing themselves for bids.

Pardew said: “He’s a big target because he’s a great player, and great players are going to be targets. We are always on our guard with Cheik because we realise that to us, he is very, very important and it would be very, very difficult to get him out of here.”

Pardew spent much of last January insisting that Andy Carroll was not for sale, only for Liverpool to make a remarkable £35m bid which they could not refuse.

The manager knows a sizeable bid for Tiote or any other player – Fabricio Coloccini and Danny Simpson are yet to agree new deals – could leave the club with another decision to make. However, that offer would have to be significant and dwarf the £3.5m Newcastle paid FC Twente for the midfielder.

Pardew said: “You never know with the window. It’s such a minefield of possibilities. We have one or two players here that top clubs, I’m sure, will be interested in, but the one thing I would say on that is that they are going to have to pay a lot of money to take anybody out of here because we are obviously in a good position, not just on the playing side, but financially as well.

“In terms of players coming in, there is certainly one player who will come in and we are hoping maybe two – if we don’t lose anybody.”

The Sochaux striker Modibo Maiga is expected to join the club next month.

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