Frank
Lampard has praised Callum Hudson-Odoi for his response to being dropped
from the matchday squad for Chelsea's goalless draw at Tottenham on Sunday.
Hudson-Odoi was omitted from the 18-man squad, while Christian Pulisic and
Kai Havertz were among the subs as Chelsea earned a point to stay two points
behind Premier League leaders Spurs.
Lampard has a fully-fit squad for the Champions League trip to Sevilla on
Wednesday, and the Chelsea boss confirmed Hudson-Odoi would get some minutes
after impressing in training.
Asked about his decision to leave Hudson-Odoi out at Spurs, Lampard said:
"It was difficult. I've been really pleased with his training lately. I've
spoken about Callum at different times since I've been in the job. His
training and attitude is bang on at the minute.
"I have tough decisions when we have a fully fit squad, that we pretty much
do now, to leave players out that work hard through the week and are
desperate to play for the club.
"I have to make that decision, so I did speak to him personally, because I
wanted him to understand where he was at, he is getting better for me and
there will be times where other players have to sit out and that
conversation will be with other players. He's back in contention for
tomorrow and I want to see more of the same. I want him to stay positive,
which is part of my job as well."
Lampard added that he was not worried about the ramifications of dropping
Hudson-Odoi, who was the subject of an initial loan bid from Bayern Munich
that Chelsea rejected in the summer.
"In terms of the squad I have to leave four or five players out per game,"
Lampard said. "He took it very well. It's not an easy conversation, all
players want to play and I expect that.
"He'll get minutes tomorrow, it's up to him to then keep showing when he
plays that he deserves to start because there's competition in that area.
That's the reality of playing for Chelsea, so I'm not worried about the
noise around it or the permutations of what not being in the squad might
mean down the line.
"I'm just worried about picking the right squad. If I feel like I'm taking
someone out of the squad when I think they deserve to be in it, I have to be
straight and honest with them and work with them to keep them positive.
Hopefully with Callum we've got that, his reaction was great, in training
today he was great."
Gilmour back in contention
Lampard also provided a fresh update on Billy Gilmour, with the 19-year-old
midfielder in the squad for Wednesday and in line to make his first Chelsea
appearance since suffering a knee injury in July.
"He's fit now," said Lampard. "He could do with some more match minutes
which are hard to get in the Covid times behind the scenes. But he's in the
squad tomorrow. It would be nice if he can get some minutes over these two
Champions League games remaining in the group stage.
"Where do I see him? I see him hopefully coming back to the level he reached
just before he was injured, he made a great impact. There'll be so much more
to come from him at this club because of the talent he has, got a great
attitude, trains brilliantly. He's looking spot on, he comes in to compete
with the other players in that midfield area."
Lampard targets top spot in Group E
Chelsea head to Sevilla knowing their place in the Champions League knockout
stages is already confirmed.
However, as both sides are locked on 10 points the match at Ramon Sanchez
Pizjuan will go some way towards deciding who tops Group E, with Chelsea
then hosting Krasnodar and Sevilla travelling to Rennes on the final on
December 8 for the final round of fixtures.
Lampard said Chelsea head to Spain with the intentions of finishing top,
adding how some fringe players can prove their worth and make his selection
tougher going forward.
"We're fully fit, ready to go," Lampard said. "I'll have to do that for
different reasons, some players have been playing a lot. Talk about the
hectic schedule, it is hectic, but I can't say that on one hand then not
look at making some rotations for this game.
"On the other side of that, players that aren't playing so regularly are
training really well, are part of the group and important to us. Some people
are knocking on the door and deserve opportunities.
"We're not taking the game lightly even though we've qualified. We want to
win the group, I don't expect a drop in level but there will be an
opportunity for some players to get in the mix.
"In terms of motivation, talking about players that might play that haven't
played so many minutes, their motivation is to show why they should be in
the starting XI. I have difficult choices, it's an opportunity for players
to give me more difficult choices going forward. As a collective, we're on a
good run, we haven't lost since Liverpool.
"My experiences are if you're going well and decide you want to flick the
switch off then on again, it doesn't work that way, so we have to remain
consistent in that approach."
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