Jose Mourinho wants to protect Frank Lampard from injury on pre-season
The 35-year-old was initially set to start Wednesday's friendly against the Singha All-Stars in Bangkok but withdrew during the warm-up with a sore Achilles.
Mourinho insisted that Lampard, who sat during the match with an ice-pack held against his leg, was withdrawn as a precaution but he is taking no chances with him now the team have moved on to Kuala Lumpur.
"I don’t want to risk him," he said. "It is such a long pre-season and we don’t need to risk him. He is an important player for us.
Lampard withdrew from a friendly game with an achilles strain
Mourinho wants to keep Lampard in cotton wool during pre-season
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"He will start training, not with the group but doing separate exercises and adapting back to playing.
"But it is no point rushing him, especially on these pitches which are not the best quality.
"So if on Sunday he is not 100 per cent, I am not risking him - absolutely."
Mourinho has described Lampard as an 'important' player for Chelsea
Lampard helped the Blues win the Europa League last season
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Chelsea will play against a representative team which is effectively the Malaysia national side.
But Lampard has already been withdrawn from a corporate event tomorrow where Chelsea will unveil a brand new "blue pitch" as part of their "Here to Play, Here to Stay" tour initiative.