Chelsea boss Frank Lampard spoke at a news conference on Thursday afternoon ahead of this weekend’s game against Newcastle. Here are four things we learned.
Christian Pulisic is still not fit
“With Christian we are still searching. He’s in a position at the moment where he has had a problematic injury.
“He had a history before coming to us of having some muscular injuries and he’s had them again.
“Everything about Christian; how he is around the training ground, how he prepares and how much he wants to play is perfect.
“We need to find the right balance between playing a resting and maintenance throughout the week to get the best out of him.
“He is a young player still so this is not abnormal but we need to find a solution. I don’t want to make more of it than it is.
“We want to get as many games as possible out of Christian because of his ability, but at the minute he is injured and in the short-term it’s a work in progress.”
Thiago Silva is also likely to miss the game
“Thiago Silva has just landed. He just messaged me this afternoon. He probably won’t be going to Newcastle.”
But Ben Chilwell is likely to be available
“With Ben Chilwell, I haven’t seen him yet but he was obviously getting fantastic care with England and he was improving. I’m positive that he’ll be OK, but I’ll have to see him.”
Kai Havertz is back in training after testing negative
“Kai Havertz is back from isolation. That’s over. He tested negative two days ago, so he’s just started training to get some of his fitness back after two weeks at home.”