Chelsea FC manager Frank Lampard has provided a fresh injury update on Tammy Abraham and Antonio Rudiger ahead of the Premier League clash against West Ham United at home.
Abraham picked up a hip problem during the closing stages of the opening half against Valencia in midweek and the striker personally stated that he had avoided a major injury.
However, he has not been able to overcome the pain ahead of the weekend’s London derby and Lampard has confirmed that his leading striker won’t play any role on Saturday.
“No. We’ll know by the end of the weekend. He’s got some pain. He won’t be involved tomorrow, and we will see by Monday,” he was quoted as saying by the club’s official website.
Meanwhile, when pressed on a comeback date for Antonio Rudiger, Lampard stressed that the German has just recovered after a groin operation and he needs some time to achieve peak fitness.
“He’s getting closer, he had a really good week’s work. The reality is he’s not played for a very long time so it’s a mini pre-season. Now the injury hopefully is over, we need to get him properly fit,” he added.
In the absence of Abraham, Michy Batshuayi is expected to start upfront and the Belgian has the opportunity to show Lampard that he can be trusted with a regular starting role.
Meanwhile, the central defence should witness Fikayo Tomori return to the mix to partner Kurt Zouma. Andreas Christensen was handed with a rare outing against Valencia but he was culpable to a number of mistakes and nearly gifted Rodrigo Moreno with a goal.
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