Crystal Palace midfielder Jonathan Williams has revealed his admiration for Chelsea stalwart Frank Lampard.

The 19-year-old, who supported the Blues as a child, helped Palace gain promotion to the Premier League last season.

Williams is now excited by the prospect of facing one of his heroes in the top flight.

"It will be great to be against ­Lampard," The Mirror quotes the Welshman as saying. "It will be awesome. As a ­midfield player, I have obviously looked up to him.

"I would like to improve the number of goals I score and he is a prime example of getting goals from midfield. The way he does it is incredible and hopefully I can work on that and improve."

Palace will discover who they will face in their first Premier League game since 2005 when the fixtures are announced on Wednesday.