London (AFP) – Frank Lampard said Friday that he is wary of Chelsea suffering a European hangover during their trip to battling Burnley after running up six straight wins with their impressive midweek victory at Ajax.
Lampard’s Blues won 1-0 in Amsterdam on Wednesday to boost their chances of making the last 16 of the Champions League and have moved into the Premier League’s top four thanks to their fine recent form.
But the Blues’ boss is determined for his young side not to be bullied by Burnley, who are five points behind Chelsea in eighth, at Turf Moor on Saturday.
“We have had a tight turnaround here, so it’s been huge on recovery and getting the players fit and ready to go again because it will be a physical battle,” said Lampard on Friday.
“They have a very strong way of playing that they know. They’re well drilled, they’re very efficient in how many times they get the ball in to the box.”
Chelsea will again be without N’Golo Kante, Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger and Ross Barkley through injury.
Kante’s season has been beset by injury troubles and Lampard is keen for the French midfielder to take his time in coming back to action.
“We need to get him right now because he’s been in and out through the season as we all know,” added Lampard.
“There’s no real timeframe on it. I just want him fit. He’s played a lot of football for four years, he’s had a big injury off the back of last season, and maybe he’s suffering from that big injury and the fallout from that.
“It’s maybe now time to take a small step back to get his fitness up and be confident we won’t have a domino effect of small injuries.”
