Chelsea's Kante ruled fit against Bayern-Lampard
VIDEO SHOWS: NEWS CONFERENCE WITH CHELSEA MANAGER FRANK LAMPARD AND CENTRE BACK ANTONIO RUEDIGER
EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: CONTAINS WHITE FLASHES
RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT
SHOWS: MUNICH, GERMANY (AUGUST 7, 2020) (CHELSEA FC - ACCESS ALL)
1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHELSEA MANAGER, FRANK LAMPARD, ON INJURIES, SAYING:
"Yeah (Christian) Pulisic out. (Cesar) Azpilicueta out. Willian out. Pedro out. Ruben Loftus-Cheek's back in the squad. (N'Golo) Kante is in the squad. Do you want more detail on the injuries?"
JOURNALIST SAYING:
"Yes please. And yeah, are they fit to start, Kante and Loftus-Cheek and how bad are the injuries? Are they going to affect next season as well?"
LAMPARD, SAYING:
"Yeah, they are fit to start tomorrow, both. And the injuries with Christian (Pulisic), we're looking at probably around a six-week injury. With Azpilicueta, not quite so much. Hopefully a three-week injury. Pedro, as we know, he's moving on, but his injury is hopefully a six-week injury. He had an operation earlier in the week. And Willian's injury is improving, but not right for this game."
2. WHITE FLASH
3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHELSEA MANAGER, FRANK LAMPARD, SAYING:
"I wouldn't approach it like all guns blazing or keep it tight, it's not exactly the conversation. The conversation generally is trying to get our game right for the game as a whole. When you play a team with the quality of Bayern Munich, you have to respect what they have on the ball and you have to defend very well. We didn't defend well enough at Stamford Bridge. That's why you can see three goals in a short space which changed the face of the whole game. And of course, knowing that we need to score goals. We have to trust that if we move the ball well and play confidently and play like we have for big parts of the season; we can cause most teams problems. So, we'll need to get our game, actually, spot on to compete and try to turn this around."
4. WHITE FLASH
5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHELSEA MANAGER, FRANK LAMPARD, SAYING:
"I won't use that for this game. I think if I try to use short stories from my career to the players through the season they'd get very bored of me. So, I won't use that, but I will speak to the players and make them aware of the opportunity they have here to show that they want to turn this game around. To act like they want to turn this game around and then believe that they can turn the game around. I think that's very clear. And it mustn't be short on them. It's been a long season for us, successful in many ways, and now we have a huge challenge in a one-off game to try and do something special. I understand the difficulties of the game. So, all I want to see is a performance and an attitude from the team that attempts to do something special. It will be very, very difficult. I don't have to pretend that with the players. I just need to see them perform. I believe they will."
6. WHITE FLASH
7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHELSEA BACK, ANTONIO RUEDIGER, SAYING:
"This is a different competition (compared to the FA Cup final against Arsenal) and the Arsenal game was one by itself, because as you said, we were very disappointed and everything. But this is a different competition. And yes, we lost the first leg, the first game, but this is now a situation that in my feeling, we have nothing to lose and the pressure is not on our side. And I think that can be something good for us. We just have to go on the pitch and put in some pride and try the best we can."
STORY: Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante has been ruled fit for their Champions League Round of 16 second leg at Bayern Munich on Saturday (August 8) as the Blues struggle with injuries.
Coach Frank Lampard is already without Cesar Azpilicueta, Christian Pulisic and Pedro who all picked up injuries during Chelsea's 2-1 defeat by Arsenal in the FA Cup final. Willian is also out.
Lampard told reporters that American Pulisic's injury -- a hamstring strain -- could rule him out for six weeks while Azpilicueta would be sidelined for three.
But he will have fit again Ruben Loftus-Cheek ready to start.
Chelsea lost 3-0 in London in the first leg and with the string of injuries at the end of their domestic season decimating his squad, Lampard said his players would need to be careful.
Bayern are in the hunt for a treble of titles after winning the domestic league and Cup double.
Lampard will be drawing on his own playing experience in Munich, when they came from a goal down in 2012 to win a penalty shootout against Bayern and lift the trophy, to motivate his players.
(Production: Kurt Michael Hall)
