Football Update: Ancelotti not ready to risk Lampard, Drogba confident ahead of Manchester City fixture
Carlo Ancelotti, the Chelsea manager, confirmed ahead of the Manchester City clash that star midfielder Frank Lampard would not feature in that fixture. The Italian manager said he would not risk playing the 32 year old unless he was completely fit, but
denied rumours that he had further aggravated his groin in training.
His exclusion from the trip to Manchester means that Lampard will have missed five more matches than expected after his hernia surgery, which was declared successful, but the same could not be said for his recovery. He underwent the surgery during the International
break, when England took on Bulgaria and Switzerland in the 2012 Euro qualifiers, hoping to recover by the time the Premier League resumed.
Lampard was set to return against his former club, West Ham on September 11th but was unable to do so, and Ancelotti has ruled him out of Saturday’s fixture against Manchester City and his return is also not confirmed for the home fixture against
Marseille in the Champions League. The upcoming fixtures are important and will determine the Blues chances of winning any silverware this season, but Ancelotti has made it clear that he will not risk using such a vital player until his fitness is guaranteed.
Frank Lampard has had a close to perfect fitness record so far, the midfielder is known to push past the pain barrier and play through injuries. However, being unable to recover from the surgery has proved costly for the Blues. Chelsea managed fine in their
English Premier League fixtures, but were dealt their first blow when they lost to Newcastle in the fourth round of the Carling Cup at Stamford Bridge.
The defeat was unexpected even though Ancelotti had put forward a young team, with the exception of Captain John Terry and striker Nicolas Anelka. The match proved unlucky for the Blues as they lost two more players during the match, Yossi Benayoun and Salomon
Kalou. Both these players are undergoing scans and are expected to be sidelined for a while, long enough to miss the trip to Manchester City, and the visits from Marseille and Arsenal.
The former Liverpool player, Benayoun hurt his calf and is predicted to be out longer than Ivoirian Kalou, who was pulled off after he damaged a thigh muscle in his right leg. Ancelotti said while talking to reporters, "They will miss the next few games."
The three out of four goals that the Blues conceded were because of Ross Turnbull, Chelsea’s third choice goal keeper, whose performance will give Ancelotti something to think about.
In the absence of Cech, Chelsea does not have a suitable replacement and are in the market to sign another goal keeper. Ancelotti made a bid for Stoke City goal keeper Asmir Begovic last month, but the deal didn’t go through despite Begovic claiming he wanted
to join the Blues. It was the club who refused to release him, but there is a possibility that the Bosnian might join the London club in the January transfer window.
Striker Didier Drogba was optimistic ahead of the trip to Eastlands, the Ivoirian claimed that along with partner Anelka, he was just as good at setting up goals and scoring them. He said,
“There are players in our team who can score goals but those same players are capable of giving assists. It helps if I can go outside to the right or left to make some space and I know that Nico (Anelka) or Florent Malouda will move up front in that situation.
They both show that understanding and the desire to score goals, so it makes things really interesting.”
He added, “We know we have the quality in the dressing room to make the difference at any time in any game. This is going to be important in tight games because our opponents will know that a chance could come from a good pass by a striker or by a good
strike from a midfielder. It's good to have so many players with these qualities and to be able to make goals from different situations. The fluidity comes because we know each other so well now and that makes things easier for you on the pitch. That understanding
is there because we've been together such a long time so we know more or less what we have to do.”
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