This archive report was first published on 18 October 2019.
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has expressed disappointment with France's handling of N'Golo Kante's injury, ruling him out of the Premier League clash against Newcastle United on Saturday.
According to Lampard, Kante had a small groin issue during the warm-up for France's first international game and did not return to Chelsea until after the second game.
“N’Golo’s not fit for Saturday. He had a small groin issue in the warm-up to the first international game with France and we didn’t get him back until after the second game,” he told reporters.
“After the first game when he pulled out, he then had a fitness test the day before the second game, clear that he couldn’t play and he then sat on the bench on the evening of the game,” Lampard added.
“It’s not such a laughing matter…I think that probably could have been handled better,” he said. “It was quite clear he wasn’t fit to play, so from our point of view we’d have wanted him back to work on him.”
Denmark's Andreas Christensen is also out for Chelsea due to a hamstring injury, but Lampard is optimistic about the return of Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovacic and Germany international defender Antonio Rudiger.
“Kovacic had a knock on his thigh but has trained the last couple of days so he’s in contention,” said Lampard.
“Rudiger is training outside with the physios which is a progression for him, he’s had a tough injury with some stop-start to it, which has been unfortunate for everybody but he’s outside.
Chelsea are currently fifth in the Premier League standings, level on points with Leicester City in fourth and just a point behind London rivals Arsenal.
