Lampard confirms exit-linked Chelsea star’s recall; Kante fears revealed

Frank Lampard Chelsea TEAMtalk

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has praised the professionalism of Jorginho as he looks set to recall the midfielder in place of the injured N’Golo Kante.

Kante suffered a hamstring problem in Saturday’s Premier League win over Watford.

And while Lampard eased concerns over the seriousness of the problem, he will likely miss the next two games.

The Blues face Crystal Palace on Tuesday night and Sheffield United on Saturday, with Kante likely to be absent for both.

“Kante won’t be in the squad,” Lampard told Monday’s press conference ahead of Tuesday’s clash with Palace.

“It is a low-level hamstring injury. We are hoping it will be a week or so.

“We will see how it goes but I would expect we would be very lucky to have him for Sheffield United.”

With Kante sidelined, it is expected that Italy international Jorginho will replace him in the heart of the Chelsea midfield.

The 28-year-old was a regular in Lampard’s side before lockdown but has not featured since.

Indeed, reports earlier this year have linked the midfielder with a move back to Serie A.

Lampard, however, refused to explain why the former Napoli player has seemingly fallen out of favour.

The manager said, however, that he has been pleased with Jorginho’s reaction.

LAMPARD PLEASED WITH JORGINHO REACTION

Jorginho, Frank Lampard Chelsea TEAMtalk

“I don’t want to go into personal details of positional and tactical reasons why I pick a team, I just pick a team how I see best and they are my choices,” he said.

“He [Jorginho] has been very professional about it, he wants to play as every player does.

“It is one of the hardest parts of the job – telling a player they are not playing, particularly when they train well.

“Jorginho always trains well but he has handled it professionally and that is what I would expect.

“It is important that players, over the course of a season, in a competitive squad like we have are there to support players when they are out – and he has done that, to be fair.”

If they can win at Selhurst Park, Chelsea will move into third place, with Leicester playing later away at Arsenal.

Three wins from four since the restart have seen Chelsea close the gap, while Manchester United have also kicked on.