SOME personnel you confine to camp at times like this. Others you call to arms, whatever the mission. Guus Hiddink had unhesitatingly placed Frank Lampard in the latter contingent. “Even if I had suggested to Frank that he would be rested today, he would have given me the look that said, ‘Boss, don’t do that’. He wanted to play”.

You could understand the Chelsea manager’s rationale – even at the conclusion of this of all weeks, and with the prospect of Tuesday’s hostile terrain of the Camp Nou three days away. Lampard, criticised on a London radio show on Friday over comments made by his estranged partner, phoned in himself and took the presenter to task. Coincidentally, it had also happened to be the first anniversary of the death of his mother, Pat.

Some, mindful that this was a return to his former club, where there exists residual hostility at his departure, may have been content to join those who were rested. In the circumstances, the tasteless abuse from followers of a club he left eight years ago won’t have unduly perturbed him. And at the conclusion, “Fat boy”, as they still refer to him here, thrust both arms high in a victory salute, in the direction of the occupants of the Bobby Moore stand, before striding to the tunnel, grinning ear to ear, and gaining a hug from West Ham manager and former Chelsea teammate, Gianfranco Zola.

“They haven’t forgiven him,” reflected Zola sadly. “To see him have a problem with the crowd makes me sorry.”

Lampard had responded with one of those typical performances, of diligence and vision, that made one question the wisdom of his peers not to shortlist him at least for the player of the year award. His display reached its peak 10 minutes after the break. He sent up a tantalising ball from near the byline. Robert Green flapped at it and just did enough to propel the ball towards Salomon Kalou, who netted easily.

As a rehearsal for Tuesday, Hiddink cannot have asked any more. The Dutchman had left Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack and Michael Essien on the bench. Ashley Cole’s enforced absence on Tuesday night had prompted Hiddink to deploy Jose Bosingwa, naturally a right-back, whose forte is attack rather defense, to prepare for the task ahead. It didn’t actually prove too much. As a sparring partner, even Luis Boa Morte’s fiercest advocates would place him some way short of Lionel Messi. He rarely troubled the Portugal defender as West Ham performed as though in awe of their fellow Londoners.

The additional benefit for Hiddink was that Petr Cech has swallowed a confidence restorative in the past week. Clean sheets in successive games was achieved with a fine penalty save from Mark Noble.

Chelsea began as though suffering from a certain ambivalence. However, one expected rather more from the Hammers. Zola, who has signed a new four-year contract with the club, said beforehand that he regarded yesterday’s confrontation with Hiddink as “a privilege”. It’s a bit like Sir Edmund Hilary being confronted by a climber delighted with himself for having successfully ascended a Brecon Beacon. One is a world adventurer of more than 25 years’ standing as a distinguished coach at club and national level. The other still consults his route map, harbouring a belief that the career in front of him will prove equally rewarding.

The Europa League will suffice for now, even though that eventuality would make it likely that the Hammers would enjoy a congested season. The Hyacinth Buckets of football may have given the old Uefa Cup a posh new title, but for the seventh-placed Premier League qualifying team it will still require 19 games to win the trophy. Such foreign adventures look good in a manager’s portfolio, but its effects on a club can be decidedly double-edged.

Here the Hammers did precious little to demonstrate that they will secure that place. Admittely, Cech denied Kieron Dyer, who was starting his first game since August 2007, in an opening half in which John Mikel Obi also cleared off the line from Diego Tristan, who immediately after the interval spurned another promising opening.

Chelsea had seen Florent Malouda and Nicolas Anelka go close before the break. But Lampard finally provided the breakthrough. If Green was partly culpable for that, at least he atoned with a fine block from Nicolas Anelka, as Chelsea looked to secure victory while Cole’s venomous drive was just over. The Blues could have lived to rue those missed chances when Kalou felled Herita Ilunga in the area with 20 minutes remaining. But it was the Chelsea goalkeeper who guessed correctly and made the decisive move. And, where his critics are concerned: Cech mate.

WEST HAM: Green 5, Neill 6, Tomkins 6, Upson 6, Ilunga 7, Boa Morte 5 (Nsereko 72min), Noble 7, Dyer 6 (Sears 61min), Stanislas 6, Tristan 6, Di Michele 5 (Kovac 61min)

CHELSEA: Cech 7, Mancienne 6 (Ballack 82min), Ivanovic 7, Terry 7, Bosingwa 6 (A Cole 58min, 6), Belletti 6, Mikel 6, Lampard 8, Kalou 6 (Essien 73min), Malouda 6, Anelka 7

Star man: Frank Lampard (Chelsea)

Yellow card: West Ham: Stanislas

Referee: M Dean

Attendance: 34,749

Zola’s deal

West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola last night signed an extension to his contract that will keep him at Upton Park until 2013. His assistant, Steve Clarke, is expected to follow suit.

Zola put pen to paper after yesterday’s match against his former club Chelsea. ‘I have just signed the contract and I am delighted with that,’ he said.

Zola was appointed as Alan Curbishley’s replacement at West Ham last September, with Clarke, who had been a successful coach at Stamford Bridge, joining him soon after. The Italian added that he wanted to succeed in the club’s project. ‘We believe in the project and we will do everything we can to make it happen’