Chelsea Football Club News

• Nickname:Blues
• Founded:1905
• Manager:Roberto Di Matteo

• Ground:Stamford Bridge
• Capacity:42,440

Lampard not expected to play

25 Apr 2008 - 15:27:52

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Chelsea manager Avram Grant has not ruled out the possibility of Frank Lampard playing in Saturday's Premier League showdown with Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.

The England midfielder's mother died from pneumonia on Thursday and it was widely anticipated that he would miss the game.

However, Grant said: "He didn't train on Friday and I can tell you that all our thoughts are with him.

"We are in contact. Frank was very close to his family, so it's not an easy situation.

"He's a professional with full commitment to the team. For the moment, because we have a game tomorrow, we will keep it between me and him. We need to respect him.

"We are a close family here at Chelsea and all our sympathies are with him and his family. We just want to make sure that, when Frank comes back, we will still be fighting.

"I think he will not play tomorrow, but we need to speak with him. In these things, football is very important but there are things that are more important. It's how he feels with this.

"All the players and the staff were very sad because of him. We cannot say more than all our sympathies are with him."