FRANK Lampard has distanced himself from reports saying he was in talks about the vacant manager's job at Oxford United.

The Sun reported earlier this week that the former Chelsea and England star was in talks about succeeding Pep Clotet.

The 39-year-old became the odds-on favourite as a result.

But when speaking on talkSPORT this afternoon, Lampard confirmed the contact he had with the U's had come last summer in the wake of Michael Appleton's departure, rather than in the last few days.

He said: "I spoke to Dave Jones from Sky, who is on the board there at Oxford, in the summer about the job and that's as far as it went. 

"Certainly I'm working on my badges now and it's my intention (to get into management) if the right thing comes along.

"I don't know what the route will be - there are plenty of different routes to become a top manager and I'm working there now to get towards that.

"You can't just step out of something and think you can become a manager, you have to practise a lot and thankfully Chelsea and the academy are helping me do my hours.

"I'm watching training at certain Premier League clubs and studying as much as I can. Down the line, I hope so, but that would be it really."