Lampard spent three months with Swansea during the 1995/96 campaign, making his league debut and scoring his first senior goal.
After nine games in South Wales, he then returned to West Ham but has never forgotten his time with the Swans.
“I was 17 when I went to Swansea – quite a while ago – but I still have a genuine fondness for the club,” said Lampard.
Being at Swansea was a real learning curve for me because they were nowhere near the club they are today and it’s fantastic to see where they’ve got to
...Frank Lampard...
“I went there when they were fourth bottom of what is now League One and when I left, they were bottom so it’s not as though I took them to the moon or anything!
“We played at their old Stadium, Vetch Field, and it was an eye opener because it was my first experience of man’s football and was a character-building exercise. I’ve always kept my eye out for their results ever since and it’s always good to go back.”
While Swansea boosted City’s hopes of finishing second this season with a 1-0 win at Arsenal on Monday, they could also dent the Blues’ aspirations at The Liberty Stadium on Sunday.
Lampard, enjoying his best run of starts for City with four in a row, is hoping to end his time with the Blues with six wins from six games, but expects the in-form Welsh side to start with their tails up.
“They’ll be confident, they’ll play good football and this is their last home game of the season so off the back of a very good season, they don’t have much to lose,” he said.
“They are still looking to finish as high as they can so it will be a tough game for us. I’ve a lot of respect for Garry Monk because it wasn’t an easy job to go into.
“Brendan Rodgers and Michael Laudrup had done really before him and I suppose there was a feeling that maybe it would be difficult to continue that momentum.
“He’s a young manager and former player so a few people tipped them to struggle this year but if anything, they’ve kicked on again.
“Monk’s a confident man and Wilfried speaks very highly of him, respects him and likes him a lot and it’s good to see him doing so well. The people behind the scenes are brilliant and it’s a great, family club.”
