This archive report was first published on 5 August 2019.
Chelsea's French midfielder N'Golo Kante remains a doubt for the Blues' Premier League opener against Manchester United at Old Trafford, according to manager Frank Lampard.
On August 5, 2019, Lampard revealed that Kante had played only 20 minutes in Chelsea's 2-2 draw against Borussia Monchengladbach in their final pre-season friendly.
"That was always the plan [to play 20 minutes]," Lampard told reporters, explaining that the decision was made to give Kante a feel for match time as he had not been able to do so due to an awkward injury.
"He's working a little bit now and it was just to give him the feeling of match time as he hasn't been able to do that yet as it's an awkward injury," Lampard said.
Chelsea will be hoping that Kante can recover in time to feature in the Premier League opener, as he played a key part in helping the Blues secure a third-place finish in the Premier League last season, making 53 appearances in all competitions and scoring five times.
