Chelsea
boss Frank Lampard says Christian Pulisic deserves a starting place
following his "brilliant impact" from the bench in recent games.
The American winger, who was signed from Borussia Dortmund over the summer,
has not started a Premier League or Champions League game since Chelsea's
2-2 draw with Sheffield United in August, after which he wasn't used in the
next five matches in those competitions.
However, the 21-year-old has worked his way back into Lampard's plans,
making a positive impact from the bench in Chelsea's last three games,
including an assist for the goal at Ajax on Wednesday that extended their
winning streak to six matches.
"The way he's played he deserves a starting place regularly in the last few
weeks, but so do others and that's what I keep saying is the nice problem
that I have," Lampard said ahead of Chelsea's trip to Burnley on Saturday.
"But it's brilliant that he's coming on and making the impact that he's
making and of course he'll get his starts, that's the reason he's come here.
"But we've got Callum Hudson-Odoi, who was top class against Newcastle last
week at home, in terms of creation, Willian, I think I declared him our best
player in the great patch we had of four-or-five games.
"So they're good options for me and Christian is getting stronger and he's
getting more in the group.
"With players that come here and some of them you have to give them a bit of
time, particularly young players, but he's playing well, so he's certainly
in strong contention."
Has Chelsea's winning run increased
Chelsea and Lampard have earned plaudits for the six-game winning streak
that has seen them turn around an inconsistent start to the season and climb
to fourth in the Premier League table.
Saturday's trip to Burnley, which is live on Sky Sports, provides an
opportunity for a fourth straight league victory, but Lampard is wary of
allowing his players to lose focus.
"Whether we win, lose or draw my thoughts always go instantly to the next
game and I don't go too far ahead," Lampard said.
"It's nice. It's a good feeling at the moment and I want to keep that and
temper it with a little bit of edginess where we know that if we drop the
standards we'll fall back again.
"I'm not getting overly excited by it. It actually just makes me want to
work a bit harder to see that the work we've done has given us some nice
results recently."
Injury update - 'I just want Kante fit'
Chelsea will once more be without N'Golo Kante for their trip to Turf Moor,
as the French midfielder attempts to overcome a spate of injuries that have
limited him to just six appearances this season.
Lampard revealed he will also be without Antonio Rudiger, Andreas
Christensen and Ross Barkley, with the latter expected to be available next
week.
"N'Golo won't be ready," Lampard said. "He's training on his own with some
physical work because he's had a few issues and we need to get him right now
because he's been in and out.
"I just want him fit. He's played a lot of football for four years. He's had
a big injury off the back of last season so I think maybe we, I, he is
suffering from that big injury and the little fall out from that.
"So I think it's now time to take a small step back just to get his fitness
up and be confident that we won't have the domino effect with small
injuries."
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