The thigh injury that forced Frank Lampard to withdraw from the England squad ahead of Saturday’s friendly with Brazil will sideline the Chelsea star for three weeks.
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Frank Lampard: Thigh muscle injury
• Frank Lampard misses Brazil friendly
Lampard suffered a tear to the thigh muscle of his left leg while training in Doha and flew home to London following a scan on the injury. Chelsea conducted their own tests and issued statement confirming the 31-year-old will be out of action for a number of weeks.
“The midfielder reported back at Cobham this morning having flown back from the Middle East,” the statement read. “The Chelsea medical department’s initial impression is that he may take approximately three weeks to recover.”
There had been fears that Lampard had suffered a re-occurrence of a problem which ruled him out for more than a month in 2007 and that he might be out of action until the new year.
Lampard’s shortened absence is still a serious blow to the Premier League leaders, who face tricky matches against Arsenal and Manchester City in December without their star midfielder.
Lampard and the rest of the England squad were reportedly forced to spend the long-haul flight to Doha on a charter plane designed for short-haul only. England’s players are used to having flat beds for long journeys and were allegedly shocked to find seats which hardly reclined.
The midfielder strained his thigh while sprinting during England’s first training session and Chelsea will claim his £151,000-a-week wages in compensation from the Football Association while he is sidelined.
Chelsea will also lose Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Salomon Kalou and John Obi Mikel when the Africa Cup of Nations kicks off in January.
