Chelsea manager, Frank Lampard was pleased with how the players that got a chance to feature played in the 1-1 draw against Krasnodar at the Stamford Bridge. He gave rest to the players of the first team and provided an opportunity to many players including Kepa Arrizablaga and Billy Gilmour to shine.
It was the Blues who conceded first but after Tammy Abraham was fouled in the penalty box, Jorginho made no mistake to make the scores level.
The result ensured that Chelsea progressed to the round of elimination without tasting any defeat after they confirmed their top spot in Group E by beating them 4-0 courtesy to Olivier Giroud.
Lampard totally changed the squad that won against Leeds United 3-1 in the Premier League. He made 10 changes and kept only Kai Havertz in the squad.
Billy Gilmour and Tino Anjorin made their Champions League debuts for Chelsea and Lampard seemed very happy with the attitude the players who are down the pecking order showed on the pitch.
‘It was a good workout, particularly with some of the individual performances in there. Billy Gilmour was really good on his return and Tino Anjorin was really good at making his full debut in the Champions League,’ said the coach as per Chelsea’s Official Website.
‘There were no injuries, we got the work in the legs for people that needed it and also the ones that come off the bench because we’ll be needing them this week so I’m very pleased. We wanted to win but it a tough game to navigate. I asked the lads to be professional and get their attitude right and they all certainly did that.’
The Chelsea coach also gave an injury update on Hakim Ziyech, telling about how positive he is on the Moroccan’s return to the team. Hakim’s return will possibly take around two weeks as per the scans he underwent lately and that he is unsure about Hudson’s injury.
‘Both players are hopefully going to be missing for around two weeks. They had scans yesterday and they’re showing it will be about two weeks so I think that’s positive, particularly with Hakim.
‘With Callum, we didn’t know what to expect because it was an injury he got in training a couple of days ago,’ he added.
Chelsea will face Everton in their next game in Premier League and it is yet again a big test for Lampard to continue their momentum.
