Frank
Lampard has accused Ross Barkley of showing a "lack of professionalism"
after he was pictured shirtless in a nightclub during the international
break.
It was the second time the England international had courted negative
headlines in recent months after he was involved in an incident with a taxi
driver earlier this season.
Barkley has also been suffering with an ankle injury over the last few
weeks, and Lampard says he must knuckle down after leaving him out of the
squad for Wednesday's Champions League trip to Valencia.
The head coach said: "There are two separate issues; one is the headlines
this week. Ross knows how I felt about the first headline. I backed him then
and I still back him now. But he showed a lack of professionalism as far as
I'm concerned.
"It's not something that I want to come down hard on, because I understand
all my players are humans and have lives. I don't police every moment of
their lives. So I don't think it's a terrible thing that he's done.
"But Ross has had an injury, he's still kind of carrying an injury, so he
just has to work his way back in and train well.
"I certainly don't hold anything against my players. I like Ross and he
needs now to show all his reactions on the pitch."
'Chelsea one of world's best teams'
Valencia surprised Chelsea by beating them 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in
September, and both sides are level on seven points with Ajax at the top of
Group H.
But the Spanish side's boss Albert Celades warned before the return match at
the Mestalla: "Chelsea are a super team, one of the best in Europe and are
playing very well at the moment."
The Blues have won nine of their 13 games in all competitions since losing
at home to Valencia, and their captain Dani Parejo added: "They are one of
the best teams in the world because of their name, their history and
everything else.
"They are in fantastic form even though they lost to Manchester City the
other day. But we have to focus on us. We have shown we can compete against
any team, whether it's in Spain or in Europe.
"We don't need to motivate ourselves at all for this one given who we are up
against and what is at stake."
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