Chelsea
striker Tammy Abraham is in "pain" and will miss Saturday's Premier League
fixture with West Ham after suffering a hip injury against Valencia, head
coach Frank Lampard has said.
Abraham fell awkwardly while competing for a corner in the 2-2 Champions
League draw with Valencia on Wednesday, and was eventually stretchered down
the tunnel.
Asked if the 22-year-old could return for West Ham's visit to Stamford
Bridge, Lampard replied: "He's got some pain so won't be involved tomorrow
and we'll see by Monday."
However, Lampard is confident he can trust his other strikers, Olivier
Giroud and Michy Batshayi, to step up and replace Abraham.
He said: "It's a squad game over the course of the season. The lads have
been training well no matter how many minutes they're getting.
"Every day is a work day so when opportunities come they're ready, so I've
got all confidence in them."
Batshuayi has been Lampard's preferred choice off the bench recently, with
five goals in all competitions this season, and insists he is impressed by
the Belgian who has previously struggled for minutes at Chelsea.
When asked about Batshayi, Lampard responded: "[He brings] a work ethic, a
quality. It's not easy when you're not playing as many minutes as you want.
"Every one of my players wants to play every minute of every game and
obviously with Tammy's form, that's meant that he's played a lot of the
minutes. But that can change now Tammy has his injury.
"I've seen a great work ethic and persistence in how [Batshuayi] works and
consistency in his quality, which we've seen off the bench as well at times.
That's been great to see because we need competition in that place."
'Form out the window in London derby'
Lampard will face former club West Ham, where he came through the youth
academy before signing for Chelsea in 2001, for the first time as a manager
on Saturday.
The Hammers are on a poor run of results with just two points from their
last seven Premier League games, but Lampard knows London derbies do not
always go according to form.
He said: "West Ham have good individuals, a good team, a good manager and we
have to be very aware of their threat, no matter what their recent form is.
"A London derby kind of takes form out the window - I've played in games
like this where teams turn up in not great form but are slightly transformed
by the nature of the game, so we have to be very aware.
West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini has come under criticism in recent weeks
and there has been much speculation he will lose his job.
"He's a good manager, I worked under him," said Lampard, who was managed by
the Chilean at Manchester City. "He's a good man, a good manager. I've got
huge respect for him and he'll be working to turn it around for them."
"We all know ruthless nature of the game now. Every team, every group of
fans, every owner, everybody wants their team to be successful at all times.
"Individually, I understood the ruthless nature of the game as a player, I
understood it when I thought about being a manager and I probably understand
it even more now I am."
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