Frank Lampard has confirmed that Christian Pulisic won’t be fit to feature against Rennes tomorrow but has cooled any concerns that the American’s injury is serious.
Pulisic was pulled out of the starting line-up at Burnley after feeling some sensation in his hamstring while warming up at Turf Moor, with Timo Werner replacing our No10 and scoring in our 3-0 win.
Our head coach confirmed at his pre-match press conference that the forward hasn’t suffered a serious injury, although will sit out tomorrow’s Champions League tie with Rennes, and offered an update via Zoom to the media.
‘Christian had a scan yesterday, which showed a very minor injury to his hamstring,’ Lampard stated.
‘It’s very minor, which is good, and he’s already back outside. He won’t be fit for tomorrow’s game but we will see after that.
‘It’s a relief for the injury to be on the small side, of course, and it felt that way to Christian. He made the right decision to pull out against Burnley.
‘We are pleased it’s not a serious injury and we hope to have him back very soon, because he’s an important player for us.
‘Muscle injuries are things you have to be careful with and some players who play on the edge and have speed could be more susceptible to them. We are looking at ways to manage Christian, we are all working in the same direction on that front. We all know the talent he has and he’s a very important player for us.’
The Blues welcome the French side to Stamford Bridge for a first-ever meeting between the two clubs, with Lampard hoping to build on our recent good performances.
Chelsea have four points from our opening two Champions League fixtures – our win at Krasnodar adding to the point we earned against Sevilla at home – and our head coach has reflected on how Group E looks at this stage of the competition.
‘We are happy with where we are in the group after two games, but we can't get complacent,’ added Frank. ‘We must stay on top of ourselves.
‘The clean sheets have been great and we are adding goals and a threat in offensive positions. We always want to improve. We have seen some progression but it is a work in progress. We can't come off.’