Frank Lampard is a winner, and will want to pip Chelsea to the title

Mark Noble is another midfielder who may feel overlooked by his country

He's made more recoveries, clearances and blocks than Blaise Matuidi, Xabi Alonso, Sergio Busquets and Daniele De Rossi before Sunday

On Saturday against Chelsea he thwarted the league leaders superbly

There are a lot of snobs in football who look down their noses at players like Lee Cattermole. Against Chelsea, the Sunderland man was magnificent.

I spoke to Gus Poyet on Sky’s Saturday Night Football after the game and he was waxing lyrical about the job Cattermole does for the team.

With his black boots on and his fighting style, he’s an old-school player. He scraps for every ball but his reputation precedes him. His disciplinary record is poor, but that comes from playing on the edge.

VIDEO Scroll down for Lee Catermole wins the North East FWA Player of the Year award

Sunderland's Lee Cattermole vies for the ball with Chelsea central midfielder Cesc Fabregas

Cattermole collected the North East Football Writers' Player of the Year award on Sunday evening

One thing is for certain: he’s not one for the purists.

We are not blessed with many top defensive midfielders in this country but Cattermole is more than holding his own against some of Europe’s best this season.

Our table below shows how defensively he is matching the likes of Sergio Busquets and Daniele de Rossi. I’m not saying he is at the same level as them, but he should not be dismissed out of hand.

Against Chelsea he showed he can perform against the very best. Some people will never be convinced, but if he can curb that aggression then maybe even bigger things lie ahead.

Cattermole's defensive statistics from midfield are up there with the best of the European leagues (*before Sunday night's matches in Europe)

Cattermole is matching the likes of Sergio Busquets (left) and Xabi Alonso (right) with defensive stats

Sunderland boss Gus Poyet was full of praise for his 'exceptional' midfielder after the game

Cattermole in action for England Under 21s in 2009, but the midfielder has never played for the senior side

West Ham's Noble cause

Lee Cattermole is not the only Englishman who might feel overlooked by his country.

Mark Noble is West Ham’s Mr Consistent.

You would do well to find a player in the Premier League who gives more for his team than Noble, but he’s a quality player, too.

He’s another who does not jump out as an obvious talent but he does an excellent job in a team that is going places this season.

He will have seen Stewart Downing head off for England duty and Fabian Delph and Jack Colback have been called up recently. Noble might rightly be wondering when it will be his turn.

Mark Noble is another midfielder who is pushing Roy Hodgson for an England call-up

Frank gunning for Chelsea

Frank Lampard's move to Man City raised a few eyebrows, but it’s been a move that has benefited both parties.

Aside from his equaliser against his old club, the deal has not really hampered Chelsea and it has certainly helped City.

Who wouldn’t want the greatest goalscoring midfielder in Premier League history in their squad?

Frank Lampard gives his approval to the Manchester City fans after the 3-0 win over Southampton

Lampard's shot flew past Maya Yoshida and Fraser Forster before hitting the back of the net

After scoring at Southampton he now has 174 PL goals — one behind Thierry Henry. That is an incredible record.

No doubt he’s looking forward to his American adventure but right now he will be focused on one thing: hunting down Chelsea.

He’ll say all the right things in public but make no mistake, Frank is a winner. He’d love nothing more than to help City beat Chelsea to the title.

Lampard would love nothing more than to help Manchester City beat Chelsea to the title

Lampard, pictured with Sergio Aguero, appears to be happy at Manchester City after summer move

Jurgen's starting to Klopp some flak

Arsenal fans unfurled a banner at West Brom saying Arsene Wenger’s time is up. They should be careful what they wish for.

People point to Jurgen Klopp as Wenger’s heir, but they need to be pointed towards the Bundesliga table.

Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund team lost again on Sunday and are bottom, 22 points behind leaders Bayern Munich.

Klopp says he wants to manage in England one day. At the minute he should just concentrate on keeping his job in Germany.

Arsenal supporters held up a banner at the West Brom game demanding Arsene Wenger's exit

People point to Jurgen Klopp as Wenger’s heir, but they need to be pointed towards the Bundesliga table

Klopp says he wants to manage in England one day but at the moment should concentrate on Dortmund

Santi starting to sharpen up

This season I have been a bit disappointed by Santi Cazorla, but

I’m a big fan of the little man.

He has not played too often in 2014-15 but whenever he has, he hasn’t taken his chances. He’s been shunted around and has had to play second fiddle to the sensational Alexis Sanchez.

At West Brom his pass for Danny Welbeck’s goal was sublime and it looked like he was getting back to his best.

Santi Cazorla (left) proved the main man for Arsenal on Saturday and was instrumental in the victory

Jedinak goes the extra Mile

SUPER STAT 51 - Tackles made by Mile Jedinak so far this season. Only Nathaniel Clyne (57) has made more Advertisement

Mile Jedinak is Crystal Palace’s Roy of the Rovers. They have some good players but Jedinak is the driving force in that side. Last season he won 102 tackles — more than any other midfielder. Now he is adding goals to his repertoire.

Last week he scored a spectacular free-kick against Liverpool and all we spoke about was how badly Liverpool defended.

If that were Alexis Sanchez or Wayne Rooney we would be going crazy over that goal.

He is a real captain, always leading the way, and another fine example of an unsung midfield hero.

Jedinak (centre) celebrates scoring a penalty alongside his team-mates on Saturday

Spurred on

I’ve been critical of Tottenham in the past, but they were good against Everton. They have made some poor signings but Christian Eriksen is a shining light for them.

Christian Eriksen wheels away as he finds the net in the 2-1 win over Everton on Sunday