Frank Lampard has confirmed Christian Pulisic is still struggling with hamstring injury and will miss Chelsea’s game with Sheffield United – but Kepa is available after recovering from a shoulder injury.
Pulisic pulled up in Chelsea’s warm-up against Burnley last week and had to be replaced by Timo Werner in the starting lineup before also skipping their victory over Rennes on Wednesday.
The American winger suffered a similar injury after in August’s FA Cup final and missed the start of this campaign as a consequence, which means he has only made just five appearances in all competitions.
‘No, he’s not fit to play,’ the Chelsea manager said at his pre-match press conference on Friday. ‘He’s still suffering with his hamstring.’
Asked whether Christian Pulisic was back in training, Lampard said: ‘No, he’s not training at the moment.’
The United States international returned to low intensity training but was still feeling the effects of the hamstring injury.
‘To be clear, he trained at a low level in midweek when I made those quotes and he wasn’t comfortable,’ Lampard added. ‘So we have to keep looking for the right solution.’
Edouard Mendy has had an outstanding start to life at Stamford Bridge, recording clean sheets in his last six matches after replacing Kepa between the sticks in London.
But Kepa is back in contention once again, despite still feeling some discomfort in his shoulder.
‘Kepa has recovered,’ Lampard said when asked about the Spanish keeper’s fitness. ‘He’s still getting a slight bit of pain but he’s in the squad for tomorrow.’
