Chelsea interim boss Frank Lampard spoke at his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon ahead of this weekend’s home match against Nottingham Forest. Here are five key things we learned.
Ben Chilwell will miss out
“Ben Chilwell is not fit. We’re hoping he will be, possibly for the last game or two of the season.
“I feel for him. He wants to play and represent the club. We miss big players; Reece, Mason and now Chilly – big England internationals.”
With Marc Cucurella also out, Lewis Hall is set to feature
“Lewis has a chance. I was tempted to put him on last week, but with the nature of the game I felt the experience of Azpi was more suitable at that point.
“I’ll view this game on its merits as well, but in terms of Lewis I’ve been really impressed with his training. He’s a very good player – a really talented player.
“I didn’t work with Lewis before but I watched him from afar and was really impressed, and he hasn’t dampened that at all. The opposite. So he’s in the running for the last four games to be involved.”
Chelsea refused to release Hall for the Under-20 World Cup
“It’s my decision that he needs to stay with us for the four games. We’ve obviously got injuries to both our left-backs that have been playing regularly and that leaves us in a position where we want and need Lewis.”
Lampard sees two main threats from Forest
“We have to give them complete respect. They’ve got a strong squad, strong coach and effective way of playing. They’ve evolved through the season in terms of their style, which is very effective.
“They’ve got a lot of speed on the counter-attack and are very threatening in terms of set-pieces and some of the more direct stuff, which is fair play because they’re fighting for everything.”
Lampard is in the dark on N’Golo Kante’s contract talks
“I’ve got no understanding of the situation. He’s obviously a very, very high level player – I’ve said that many times. He’s been a huge asset to the club.”