Frank Lampard confirms three Chelsea stars are ruled out of Newcastle United clash

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has confirmed that the trio of N’Golo Kante, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger won’t be available for Saturday’s Premier League clash against Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge.

The west London giants have been hampered with multiple injury concerns from the backend of the previous season and during the recent international break, Kante, Christensen and Mateo Kovacic were among the senior players, who picked up injuries.

Speaking ahead of the Magpies game, Lampard said that Kovacic has been able to overcome his knock and the Croatia is available for selection. However, the 41-year-old confirmed setbacks for Kante and Christensen, with the latter sidelined for the next fortnight with a hamstring problem.

“No, N’Golo is not fit. A small groin issue with France, he isn’t fit for Saturday. Kovacic had a knock on his thigh, but in contention. Andreas has a hamstring problem which is going to see him out for two weeks,” he told in a press conference covered by Football.London.

Meanwhile, Antonio Rudiger has recently returned to individual training following his groin injury and Lampard has called for patience with the German, who is still short of match fitness, he continued: “There’s a bit of work to be done for him to get match fitness but it’s really positive for us that he’s back outside.”

Chelsea are currently lying outside of the top four on goal difference but they can potentially jump into the Champions League places with a third-straight victory in the Premier League.

On current form, Lampard’s side should get the better of the Magpies on their home patch but they need to grab an early advantage in order to distort the game plan of the visitors.

Steve Bruce’s team are presently just a couple of places above the drop zone, but they have fared impressively against the big sides and have already registered shock wins over Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United this term.