Chelsea boss Frank Lampard is still doubtful whether Tammy Abraham will be available for Chelsea’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa on Wednesday after still failing to recover from his problem.
Abraham missed Chelsea’s surprise defeat against West Ham United at the weekend after being forced out of the Champions League draw against Valencia with a hip injury.
Chelsea failed to score against West Ham and Olivier Giroud, who replaced Abraham in the starting line-up, struggled to make an impact.
Abraham has scored 11 goals for Chelsea this term, having netted 26 times on loan for Aston Villa last season and his absence was reflected by Chelsea’s performance as Giroud lacked the mobility that Abraham provides to Chelsea’s front line.
But despite his fitness struggles Lampard remains optimistic that he will be able to lead the line against the club he spent last season on loan at.
“We will find out more today and tomorrow,” said Lampard on Monday.
“He needs to get outside and move a little bit outside over the next two days.
Lampard also admitted his doubts about Giroud in the striker role after his struggles against West Ham
“It was a difficult game for him obviously. He probably didn’t get enough ball, and then the couple of chances he had didn’t go in for him, so a tough match for him but he wasn’t the only one who comes into a team and a performance that was slightly off it.
“Michy’s had a lot of performances to come on recently and made a difference in certain games, but it was just the choice for this game.
“I don’t want to talk about match fitness or sharpness because we train hard here
Chelsea will look to bounce back against Aston Villa after suffering back to back defeats in the Premier League against Manchester City and West Ham.
