Former Derby County striker Darren Bent is urging manager Frank Lampard to resist a return to Chelsea.

Lampard's former England team-mate Bent, who played for both Derby and Aston Villa, believes he would be better-served staying at Pride Park for another year – irrespective of whether the Rams go up or not.

Bent told the Mirror: “Frank has done a ­fantastic job, especially the way he's kept them believing when it looked like they were going to fall short of the towards the end of the ­season.

“That's a fine achievement for a first-time ­manager in his first year doing the job. I know there are ­Chelsea fans who would put him in charge at Stamford Bridge tomorrow, and I would agree that Frank is ­destined to manage at the top level.

“But you are talking about a ­different animal at Chelsea – the step up is massive. We've seen a lot of managers, who have been around a lot longer than Frank has, go there and fail. And we know it's not a forgiving club, ­patience wears thin pretty quickly, and if you aren't winning ­trophies within a year or 18 months, usually you're out the door.

“I would like to think that whether or not Derby are promoted on ­Monday, another year is not going to do him any harm in the long run."