Lampard on injury news, Havertz, futures of Abraham and Jorginho – and his plans for Kante
Frank Lampard spoke at a news conference via video on the eve of Chelsea’s game against Sheffield United. Here’s some of what the Blues boss had to say.
On the latest injury news
“Billy Gilmour has had an operation on his knee, unfortunately, so will be out for somewhere between three and four months.
“I am obviously very disappointed, as he is. I spoke with him at length and have given him support.
“He is a tough boy and had just made the breakthrough in recent times and was doing so well. I explained to him he should be very pleased with what he has done.
“His attitude will get him back as quick as possible. His character is fantastic.
“Kante’s not fit. Kovacic is back in the squad, so he is fit. Fikayo Tomori is bordering on fit but not quite fit, but he’s not quite ready for this squad.”
On Kante’s ongoing injury problems
“The big issue this season was that he came to pre-season injured and missed a massive part of the season.
“We tried to quickly get him fit for the Super Cup and he was incredible in his performance [against Liverpool] but he was still struggling.
“That has been a domino effect for him. It’s time to take stock in this period.
“The injury he has got now is not really related to the serious nature of the knee injury he had coming into the season.
“It’s a small injury which is probably more down to the games played and the lack of pre-season.”
“We will see how we are pre-season. I am happy to look at managing a player like him, with the level he has reached in previous years in his career.
“That will be a very open conversation between myself and N’Golo and our strength and conditioning coach and our medical team.”
On whether he thinks Jorginho will stay
“I keep getting asked about next season. It’s irrelevant to me.
“These final few games will define how we sit and look at this season and look forward to next season.”
On whether Jorginho has a point to prove
“I don’t think there’s a point to prove for Jorginho. He proves it in training and when he plays. I just want to see the usual Jorginho.
“I am very pleased with his attitude. It is what I expect of players.
“There’s no way you go through seasons without moments where you are possibly out of the team and that are difficult individually.
“You have to have a toughness individually and collectively, hence why I made the move to make him vice-captain when I came in because I saw that in his personality.
“He did very well when he came on. At that moment it was exactly what I wanted from him.
“I wanted him to take control, to drive it with his voice and with his quality of pass, which he has done for a huge part of this season for us as well.”
On reports linking Kai Havertz with a move to Chelsea
“It’s not something I want to broach at this time.
“I don’t want to give ifs, buts and maybes on any potential signing for the summer. The focus must be on the here and now.”
On Tammy Abraham’s contract talks
“He is not at a critical stage of his contract (Abraham has three years remaining on his current deal).
“He needs to focus on playing. We need to focus on finishing the season as well as we can and there will be plenty of time to sit down after that.”
On Abraham ending his goal drought
“Tammy is a very positive lad. He trains well and is good around the group and that hasn’t changed.
“But I know beyond that, there are sometimes feelings for a player, particularly for a goalscorer, if they are having a tough time in front of goal.
“We had a conversation before the Palace game so I was particularly delighted to see him break that against them.
“I hope there is an uplift, mentally, for him and that his confidence takes a boost. We will see.
“This being his Premier League breakthrough season at a club like Chelsea, it is a burden on the number nine shirt and being one of the main strikers is new to him this year but he has taken it on board really well.
“He will have learned a lot from the really good patch and the difficult patch
“The rest of the story is up to him how. It’s about how hard he works and how he takes himself forward now. That’s a good position for him to be in.”
