N’Golo Kante has been ruled out of Chelsea’s game away to Crystal Palace on Tuesday with a hamstring injury suffered during the recent win over Watford.
Chelsea cruised to a 3-0 victory over the Hornets at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, but suffered a blow when Kante was forced off the field with just 12 minutes remaining.
Kante underwent a scan on Sunday, and Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard admits he could be without the France international for their trips to Palace and Sheffield United.
“Kante won’t be in the squad – low-level hamstring injury. We’re hoping for a week or so [recovery time],” said Lampard ahead of the visit to Selhurst Park.
“I would expect we would be very lucky to have him for Sheffield United.”
Lampard quiet on Jorginho return
Lampard refused to say whether Kante’s absence for Chelsea’s game at Crystal Palace would lead to a recall for Jorginho, who has not made an appearance since football returned last month.
The Itay international was a regular for the Blues up until March, but his role as the deepest of Chelsea’s midfielders has been taken by Kante in their last four games.
While Lampard was keen to praise Jorginho’s attitude, he said: “I don’t want to go into personal details, or positional and tactical details of why I pick the team.
“I just have to pick the team as I see best. They’re just my choices.
“He’s been very professional about it. He wants to play, as every player does. One of the hardest parts of the job is telling a player they’re not playing, particularly when they train well – and Jorginho always trains well.
“It’s important players, during the course of a long season, are there to support players when they’re out – and he’s done that.”
Samysylum 