Christian Pulisic has been ruled out of Chelsea’s Champions League game against Rennes on Wednesday, but is expected to be back in the team for the weekend.
The American winger is already back in Chelsea training after tests showed the hamstring injury he picked up in the warm-up before the 3-0 victory against Burnley was only a minor issue.
Frank Lampard has now confirmed Pulisic should be fit again for Sheffield United’s visit to Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
“Christian had a scan yesterday that showed a very, very minor injury to his hamstring, very minor. So he’s already back outside. He won’t be fit tomorrow, but we’ll see after that,” Lampard told a press conference.
“It is obviously a relief for the injury to be minor. He made the right decision in not attempting to play the game, because he could have made it worse. So it’s clearly a relief that he will be back very soon, because he’s an important player for us.
“With the actual muscle injuries, it’s a hard one to call, it’s forever going to be a challenge, some players that play on the edge, have such speed and acceleration in their game, maybe they can be more susceptible.
“I don’t think that’s a one-size-fits-all answer, because it’s different for everybody. From last season we were looking at ways of managing Christian and looking at ways of being proactive in not hopefully getting so many injuries, I know that’s something he’s experienced previously in his career at Dortmund as well.
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“So we’re all working in the same direction on that one, to try to get him to be as fit as regularly as possible, because we all know his talent.”
Chelsea welcome Rennes to Stamford Bridge for a first-ever meeting between the two teams, with Lampard hoping to build on the club’s recent good performances.
‘We are happy with where we are in the group after two games, but we can’t get complacent,’ added Frank. ‘We must stay on top of ourselves.
‘The clean sheets have been great and we are adding goals and a threat in offensive positions. We always want to improve. We have seen some progression but it is a work in progress. We can’t come off.’
