Frank Lampard will hand ousted No 1 Kepa Arrizabalaga a rare chance in goal as Chelsea close out the Champions League group stages with a dead-rubber against Krasnodar.
The £72million goalkeeper endured a torrid campaign during Lampard’s first season and has played only once since Chelsea signed Edouard Mendy, when he made an error against Southampton.
Mendy quickly established himself as first-choice but Lampard has been impressed with how Kepa has responded to dropping down the pecking order and will reward him with a start on Tuesday night.
I’m very pleased with Kepa. His reaction has been absolutely spot on,’ Lampard said. ‘Tomorrow is obviously an opportunity to give Edu a rest and give Kepa a game. He’s training well and deserves it.’
Chelsea have already secured top spot in Group E, with Lampard saying this offers ‘some minutes for people that maybe are not playing as much as they’d not want, to show that they deserve to play more.’
Hakim Ziyech will miss out with a hamstring problem – he has a scan on Monday afternoon – as does Callum Hudson-Odoi, who picked up his own hamstring injury in training on Sunday.
But Kepa and young midfielder Billy Gilmour will start at Stamford Bridge.
‘It’s not something you can switch on and off, the idea that we must win and be successful. So that’s what I want to see – the right attitude in how we approach the game,’ he said.
‘Of course Kepa’s position is slightly different because goalkeepers have to be patient when they’re not starting games and generally with Edu’s form, he’s been a very regular pick for me, easily.
‘But this is a game for Kepa, who’s training brilliantly well, acting brilliantly well and I mentioned when I spoke about him a while ago that these periods will happen in big players’ careers. Sometimes they make you stronger and better at the other end. So I’ve got no qualms about putting him back in.’
Lampard insists he is under no pressure from Chelsea chiefs to recoup some money back on the Spaniard, adding: ‘The pressure is – and I’m not saying this is being spoken about – is to win games. And I have to do the right thing, game by game. Of course Mendy has made himself a permanent fixture at this point because the pressure to win games means I pick people in form – goalkeepers, striker, winger whoever.’
The manager says Kepa has been a positive presence even amid his own struggles.
‘What I see – I obviously watch from afar and we’re in hotels a lot, we have a lot of games at the moment – is someone who’s supporting (Mendy), quietly as is his right, someone who’s training really well and that’s the main thing I look at because – particularly for goalkeepers because of the one-on-one nature of it, how close they all are – there cannot be one goalkeeper that doesn’t train at a level. They have to push each other and I see that with the group.’