London, Feb. 19 (ANI): England footballer Frank Lampard is taking cousin Jamie Redknapp’s help to deal with his recent break-up from fiancie Elen Rives and the loss of his mother, Pat, last year.

Friends of the 30-year-old midfielder say that he is turning to TV pundit Jamie’s guidance to come to terms with the double blow. Jamie is son of Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp and Sandra Harris.

“Frank turned to Jamie, not to his club team-mates, as he feels he can show all his sadness to Jamie, and his cousin understands. If it wasn’t for Jamie, Frank says he doesn’t know how he would have been able to cope with the past few months,” The Daily Express quoted Lampard’s friend, as saying.

Frank was extremely close to his mother who died from pneumonia in April last year aged 58.

Lampard didn’t feel ready to speak of his irreparable blow before last month, but by then the depression had already added to the strain on his relationship with Spanish born Elen, 29, with whom he has two daughters, Luna, two, and Isla, one.

After spending seven years together, the pair announced their split on Valentine’s Day.

“Elen told Frank she was having doubts about the relationship while his mother was ill and it was Jamie who convinced her to stay. Elen found it hard to cope but Jamie talked her through it,” a friend said.

“She stayed long enough for Frank to come to terms with losing his mother but sometimes they barely spoke for weeks,” he added.

In July 2007, Frank and Elen had called off their wedding, as Elen was furious after seeing his pictures with another woman in a publication following allegations that he’d had a fling with Spanish girl Montse Lucas in 2006. (ANI)