Mark Gower will line up at Stamford Bridge today looking to renew some former acquaintances from his youth

Mark Gower will line up at Stamford Bridge today looking to renew some former acquaintances from his youth

Gower will come face to face with Frank Lampard in the middle of today's midfields having finally worked his way up through the lower leagues to take his place on the pitch this afternoon.

He told the Evening Post "I played against Frank at Spurs when he was with West Ham in the youth team

"I played against him a few times then. Him and Rio Ferdinand, and John Terry's a year younger than me, so I've played against all of them.

"They've gone on to bigger and better things and it will be nice to be back on a level playing field with them."

Today's encounter is one Gower is clearly relishing and, beyond his own personal battle, he thinks Swansea could surprise Chelsea.

"It's one of the fixtures you look for, one of the top four clubs away," he says.

"It's a great fixture to be involved with and I'm looking forward to it.

"They are only human. They're world-class players, but we can compete with these sides.

"The Arsenal game showed that, and I thought we were unlucky not to get anything from that game.

"We take heart from that and the win last Saturday has given us even more confidence.

"We go into the weekend knowing we can dominate teams in the Premier League.

"There may be more attention to detail with certain players but we need to go there and play the way we know we can.

"If we do that, we know we will get a lot of the ball, create chances and, hopefully, score some goals.

"It was disappointing not to start the season," he says.

"After the euphoria of the play-offs and playing a big part in the season, to find myself out of the team was hard to take.

"But football changes quickly and I've managed to get my chance a little bit earlier than I thought.

"We got the win last Saturday, so hopefully the manager won't change anything and I'll play again today.

"You think you can compete and you think you belong at that level but, until you've tried it, you don't know.

"In the Arsenal game I came on and that gave me a bit of confidence.

"Then (against West Brom) we dominated the game and I played my part, so that breeds confidence.

"It's a nice feeling to come off the pitch knowing I've played my part and we've got a good result."

Photo: Action Images

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