Lampard reveals when Chelsea stars could return

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard hopes to have N’Golo Kante and Ross Barkley available for Saturday’s game against Burnley.

Lampard also hopes to get Antonio Rudiger back sooner rather than later, although the German defender won’t be ready to return for this weekend’s match.

All three players will miss Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Ajax along with Andreas Christensen, who has a hamstring injury.

Lampard recently said he expects Christensen to be out for a couple of weeks.

However, speaking at a press conference ahead of the Ajax game, Lampard revealed he hopes to have Kante and Barkley available against Burnley and that Rudiger is not too far behind.

Kante and Rudiger trained with the squad on Tuesday, while Barkley is expected to resume training later this week.

Lampard explained: “Ross hopefully will be fit to train by the time we get back on Thursday.

“Rudiger trained with us, which is part of a small programme to have him fit. He’s going to be out of contention for the weekend, but hopefully (he’ll be back) soon.

“N’Golo similarly is training but we’ll see how we he is for the weekend – not clear yet on that one.”

Kante is nursing a groin problem and missed Saturday’s win against Newcastle at Stamford Bridge, where Barkley went off with an ankle injury.