Frank Lampard will have to make one of the biggest decisions of his career if Chelsea fail to increase their contract offer to the England midfielder.

The Blues' FA Cup final preparations have been hampered by speculation that the club have issued 'take-it-or-leave-it' offers to captain John Terry, Lampard and Dutch winger Arjen Robben.

Terry and Lampard want pay parity with top earners Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack but Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich is understood to have blocked such an increase.

Ballack and Shevchenko, who will both miss today's final through injury, are reportedly earning £121,000 a week.

Robben is believed to have been offered a new four-year contract worth £84,000-a-week and has two years left on his current deal.

Terry, who has led Chelsea to the Barclays Premiership title twice in the last three years, is understood to have rejected a deal worth £115,000-a-week along with Lampard.

Lampard, like Robben, 23, could potentially resign from his contract in the 15 days after the FA Cup final.

The 28-year-old wants to finish his career at Stamford Bridge but is determined to be rewarded for his loyalty.

If there is no agreement with the club in the next three weeks, Lampard will weigh-up leaving or running down the final two years of his contract.

The latter option would suit him best as he has salary increases built into the last 24 months of his £80,000-per-week deal.

By next summer, his bargaining position would have improved considerably but the fee Chelsea could command for him would have diminished alarmingly.

A FIFA rule, relating to Lampard's age and his time served at the club, means he could break his contract in the 15 days after today's final, with Chelsea entitled to around just £8m in compensation.

But on the eve of this weekend's clash with Manchester United, Lampard kept his eyes firmly fixed on the game, rather than his future.

The Chelsea midfielder remains full of praise for the Russian owner, even though he has blocked his bid for pay parity with Ballack and Shevchenko and may not even be at Wembley.

Lampard declared: ''So much gets made out of whether the owner of the club is here or not.

''He has every right to be wherever he wants. What he has given to the club is amazing and I think people should stop analysing his every move because he has been great for us.''

Chelsea are also struggling with an injury crisis that may yet rob them of midfielder Mikel John Obi, defender Ashley Cole and winger Robben.

Shevchenko, Ballack and defender Ricardo Carvalho are already out but Lampard, who admits to being hurt by the loss of the title to United, is determined not to use the injury setbacks as an excuse.

Lampard added: ''Losing the title hurts. I'm man enough to live my life but when you get back on the pitch you feel that.

''If it doesn't hurt you that Chelsea don't win and you are a Chelsea player then you shouldn't be here. We need characters who are going to come back and we have certainly got that.

''If you are missing important players you are frustrated because they help the team and in a game like this you want them to play. Big players deserve to play in this sort of spectacle.

''It is frustrating but if you put those excuses in your mind before you start then you have got problems. We have still got more than enough, for sure.

''I think at United they have had a few little injuries which have maybe stretched them a little bit. We have had them all season."