At his press conference this afternoon Frank Lampard was asked how Callum Hudson-Odoi was doing in his recovery from the Achilles injury he suffered back in April. The boss had a positive update on our young winger.

'He’s getting closer,' reported Lampard. 'He’s trained the last week or two with the Under-23s and is looking good. There is going to be a period of conditioning work for him. The injury looks good which is the great news.

'Then he’s going to have to be fitter than he’s ever been because I’m going to want him to run!'

Lampard went on to reveal when he thinks Hudson-Odoi will be back in action.

'Probably next month considering the international break maybe falling at a good time for us. It gives us a couple of weeks to really see how he’s getting on with the conditioning training.

'It’s good news for us. It’s slightly gone amiss with the transfer ban and the obsession with young players, but we are missing six players from the squad, including Reece James, big players. As they are coming back it’s going to make us stronger.'

The boss expects James, who starred at Wigan last season, to be back in two or three weeks having suffered an ankle injury on international duty over the summer.

Lampard also gave an update on Rudiger and Willian who are yet to feature this term.

'Rudiger is training. Whether he’s completely match fit is a different thing, for the same reasons as Callum, a bit of conditioning [needed]. Willian is probably closer. They are both in contention for the weekend.'