Eriksson's crackdown

Frank Lampard's England career has been put on hold

England coach Sven Goran Eriksson has laid down the law to his squad after dropping disgraced Frank midfielder Lampard.

Lampard was fined by Chelsea and ordered to publicly apologise after joining team-mates in a drinking binge in a hotel packed with American tourists grieving over the US terror attacks.

He was made to pay a further price when he was conspicuous by his absence from Eriksson's squad for the World Cup qualifier against Greece at Old Trafford.

Eriksson made it clear Lampard had been dropped as a result of his behaviour - and warned other England stars they will not be allowed to step out of line.

Eriksson - professionalism

He delivered a thinly-veiled message to his players when he said: "All of you have a very big responsibilty in whatever you are doing if you want to make the senior England team.

"There are many millions of young people who look up to you as heroes when you are doing well and you must live up to that.

"Players need to be professional. That is something I agree with 200%. We are England, not a small country but one of the biggest in the world.

"When you are an England player you have to conduct yourself well both on and off the pitch.

"We cannot hope to win the World Cup in 2002 or 2006 if our players do not behave in the right way."

But Eriksson insisted the door was not closed on Lampard, adding: "In don't think he has let his country down. We have all been young and made mistakes but life goes on.

"We all fail and that is very human. But the door is always open and life is not finished. Frank is very professional and a good football player."