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MANCHESTER -- Manuel Pellegrini says he sees Frank Lampard as an impact substitute now and defended his decision not to use the 36-year-old more. Lampard has only made three Premier League starts for Manchester City and, while he was expected to figure more when Yaya Toure was away at the African Nations Cup, he has not begun a top-flight game since the first half of December. City went to considerable trouble to keep Lampard for the second half of the season, bringing protests from supporters of their sister club New York City FC, who had expected the former England international to be available for the start of their inaugural MLS season. But Pellegrini said that while Lampard has a bit-part role at the Etihad Stadium, he believes he is more dangerous when opposing defences are tiring. The City boss denied the former England international is incapable of playing 90 minutes but added: "When the other teams have played 50 or 60 minutes, I think Frank makes more of a difference. His best moments of the season came as a substitute and he scores. I hope he continues in the same way." Four of Lampard's five league goals for City this season have come in games he began on the bench but Pellegrini insisted he thinks Chelsea's record goalscorer is vital for the club. He added: "Frank is a very important player for us, either starting in the 11 or after as a substitute, so he will continue playing the way I think is useful for the team." Pellegrini dropped James Milner to the bench for Saturday's game against Hull but the midfielder came on to score their injury-time equaliser. The Chilean explained: "I try to make different ways of winning. In the last three games before Hull we didn't win and in the last two here we didn't score one goal here at home. "We made a difference to the starting 11 but Milner was involved in the game, exactly as Lampard was. Either at the beginning or as a substitute, he is a very important player."
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