Back to back victories may have brought immediate relief to coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, but the main beneficiary of England's progression to next summer's World Cup finals could well turn out to be midfielder Frank Lampard. The Chelsea man underlined his value to Eriksson's hopes of making a major impact in Germany with match-wining goals in the final qualifying games against Austria and Poland. But it was not simply Lampard's scoring instincts that caught the eye as England ended a difficult campaign as winners of Group Six. Released into the forward-running roll he fills so successfully for his club, Lampard's all-round contribution suggested Eriksson may at last be close to resolving the dilemma of how he should most effectively employ his impressive midfield resources. In both games Eriksson employed someone in the holding role with specific instructions to provide a security blanket to back-up England's attacking moves. First, against Austria, Liverpool's Steven Gerrard was asked to curb his own attacking instincts before Tottenham defender Ledley King deputised for the injured Gerrard in the more comfortable win over the Poles and Lampard admits his own game benefited as a result. "It's nice insurance to know you can forward and be confident there is someone there holding behind you," Lampard said. "Ledley did very well against Poland and Steven Gerrard did the same job very well the other day. Whoever we play in there we can make sure we provide more protection against getting caught on the break. "That doesn't mean we have to play that way all the time but it's important to have that option. There might be games where we go a bit more gung-ho and there will be games when we need to have someone sitting there, particularly if the opposition have a world class player who keeps dropping into the hole behind the main striker. "But Ledley did very well. He was very disciplined and held the midfield together well. "He broke up a lot of their play and used the ball well with some nice and simple passing. He looked like he had been playing their a long time." Lampard's performance against Poland matched that of Wayne Rooney who was outstanding on his return after serving a one-match suspension and the Manchester United striker was quick to recognise the value of his international team-mate to England's hopes of World Cup success. "Frank is very important to the team," Rooney said. "He has shown over the last few years with Chelsea what a great player he is. He score some great goals, creates goals for others. He works hard and he gets back and defends as well. He is a great player."