Chelsea manager Frank Lampard hopes to get N'golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek in their "best shape" when football restarts.

Loftus-Cheek has not played a minute of first-team football this season after rupturing his achilles tendon in a friendly against New England Revolution last May, while Kante has played made 22 appearances for the West London club in all competitions with recurring muscle injuries forcing him out.

  • "I've really felt for him on an individual level"

"We had quite a few injuries going into the period when we finished playing," Lampard told the Chelsea website.

"N’Golo Kante is a great example.

"Obviously he has played four or five incredible seasons in terms of his success as an individual.

"He has been used, quite rightly so, by his managers a lot.

"This season he has played about 40 per cent of our games.

"Even then it’s been difficult for him. I’ve really felt for him on an individual level.

"He’s been a huge miss for us. Looking forward, and whenever a restart comes, we want to get him in his best shape.

"We want to get Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who has missed the whole season, in his best shape."

  • "We can hopefully get them to where we want to be"

Working towards the recovery of injured players has not been easy for Lampard in recent weeks, with self-isolation rules restricting physical contact between the players and his staff.

However, the Blues legend remains focused on ensuring that his charges are as fit and healthy as possible when the season resumes.

"Recently we have tried to get those players who have had extra problems a bit fitter," he continued.

"And of course if and when we get a chance to get back to full training we can hopefully get them to where we want to be."

  • "We obviously need N'golo Kante"

Kante's importance to the side isn't lost on his manager who is eager to see him feature in the squad more regularly when he is fit.

The World Cup winner has been one of the first names on the teamsheet since joining from Leicester in 2016 and his presence has been missed in Lampard's midfield at times this season.

"We obviously need N’Golo Kante in our team, one of the best players in the world.

"I knew that before becoming manager of Chelsea, I know that from working with him.

"We unfortunately haven’t been able to have him much this year, but going forward we want him fit and ready to go."

 

 

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