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Chelsea manager Lampard gives worrying Kante injury update in addition to Kovacic blow
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has ruled both N'Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic out of the Blues' clash with Crystal Palace on Tuesday (6pm).
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Frank Lampard has confirmed that N'Golo Kante will not be available when Chelsea take on Crystal Palace tomorrow. Fellow midfielder Mateo Kovacic is also sidelined for the Premier League meeting, giving the Blues manager a selection headache.
Kante has struggled with a number of injuries during the 2019/20 season, meaning he has made just 27 appearances across all competitions.
But the Frenchman had played every minute of Chelsea's five matches since the end of lockdown, only to pull up with a hamstring issue during the second half of the 3-0 win over Watford on Saturday.
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The latest setback means Kante is set to miss the clash with the Eagles while Kovacic is also sidelined with an ankle issue suffered against West Ham.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Monday ahead of the match against Palace, Lampard said: "Kante won't be in the squad.
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"Hurt his hamstring. A low-level hamstring, so we're hoping it is a week or so.
"Kovacic trained with us today but not ready for this game. Hopefully the next.
"And [Fikayo] Tomori is still not ready. He had a small setback in training. Hopefully next week.
"We'll play that one as it goes but I would expect we'd be very lucky to have him [Kante] for Sheffield United."
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Kante has been operating in a holding role since the return of English football last month, having displaced Jorginho at the base of Lampard's midfield.
The Italian is yet to play a single minute since the restart, although he is likely to get his chance against Palace with Kovacic also out.
Speaking about Jorginho, Lampard said: "He has been professional.
"He wants to play, every player does. He always trains well. It's what I'd expect.
"Important players are in the squad to support players without. We'll see with my selection tomorrow.
"I don't want to go into details of why I pick a team - they are just my choices."
Lampard expects Kovacic to be available for the trip to Bramall Lane next weekend while Tomori will also hope to be included in the matchday squad.
However, it remains to be seen if the 22-year-old will regain his spot in the starting XI due to fierce competition with Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger for places.
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