Lampard’s Ham being looked over
Frank Lampard will have a scan on Wednesday on the hamstring injury that ruled him out of England’s friendly against Uruguay at Anfield. The 27-year-old is believed to have picked up the knock while playing for Chelsea against Barcelona in the Champions League last week.
He then aggravated the injury during an England training session on Tuesday. He is doubtful for Saturday’s game at West Brom and could also miss the return leg against Barcelona.
Chelsea lost the first leg of their last 16 match against the Spaniards 2-1 at Stamford Bridge. The Blues found themselves down to 10 men when Asier del Horno was sent off and Lampard was understood to have played on in the match after picking up the injury because of his side’s disadvantage.
However, the midfielder recovered enough to play the full game against Portsmouth and score to help Chelsea to victory last Saturday. The Blues, who have a 15-point lead in the Premiership, will be hoping Lampard recovers in time for next Tuesday’s match at the Nou Camp, with Michael Essien and Del Horno already out because of suspension.
Boss Jose Mourinho is likely to re-arrange his midfield in Lampard’s absence rather than bring in young French midfielder Lassana Diarra.
Mourinho said: “I don’t think he’s ready for a knock-out game to reach the quarter-final like we are in at the moment. “We believe in him but he has a process to go through.”
The 20-year-old has started the FA Cup games against Huddersfield and Colchester and played three times from the bench since joining the Blues last summer from Le Havre.
Mourinho added: “When he came from France he had great quality but there’s a learning process for him to go through.
“It’s good for him to be next to Makelele. He’s a great image for him to have. But Makelele still has two years of high level football in front of him.” Diarra was an unused sub for the France Under-21 team on Tuesday.
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