Frank Lampard described Wednesday’s 5-1 win over Croatia as one of the best nights of his international career, but in the aftermath his understatement made a bigger impression than his use of superlatives.

The Chelsea midfield player conceded that England are under added pressure after qualifying for the World Cup finals in such style, but said that Fabio Capello had left his players free from external distractions.

“We will play under a different pressure now because of the expectation, but we’re a little bit immune to that,” Lampard said. “You shouldn’t get too down in the bad times and you shouldn’t get too carried away in the good.

“The manager is very strong on that. When we meet and get together, no matter what the results have been in the previous games, the manager will still keep working and still keep the discipline with us.”

Lampard says that England’s failure to qualify for last year’s European Championship finals — and the disappointment of a quarter-final exit at the 2006 World Cup — will also help them to stay grounded as they prepare for next year’s tournament.

“There is a level-headed atmosphere within the camp because we went through quite a low two years ago,” Lampard said. “We know what it’s like to have been there and we know we have to keep working hard and improving. It will also help that a lot of us went to the last World Cup and failed. Hopefully, we can use that experience to help us in South Africa.”

The biggest change in the past two years has been the emergence of an understanding between Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney, a development attributed to the tactical acumen of Capello.

“Fabio has just found a way that suits myself, Wayne and Steven,” Lampard said. “I am playing more disciplined and defensively in a way, but in the last few games I have been given a little bit of a licence to get forward. It’s working very well.”