CRAIG Gardner the new Frank Lampard?

He heads to Lampard’s back yard at Chelsea tonight told his goals return has been ‘priceless’ to Blues this season.

And Alex McLeish said Gardner was probably the closest thing there was around to Lampard, the expert exponent of netting from central midfield.

“Craig’s nine goals for us have been priceless, it’s a fantastic return,” said McLeish.

“He is ahead of the strikers, which tells you how strong he can be from the midfield area.

‘‘Yes, he’s probably the closest thing to Frank Lampard. He has similar shooting strength to Frank and accuracy as well because he has been doing that since pre-season training.

“When he gets a glimpse of goal, even in training, Ben Foster, Colin Doyle and Maik Taylor think ‘here it comes’ and it is with either foot.

“He has exceeded expectations, certainly with the goal return. I do think there is more to come from him in terms of quality.

“I see an improvement in his game from the start of this season right to this moment and there are still technical things we are working on with him. Touch, passing, taking care of the ball, understanding – but we try and improve every player in that aspect.”