Lampard explains Hudson-Odoi snub in Fulham victory

The in-form Blues winger was made to settle for a spot on the bench during the club’s derby victory over Fulham.

Frank Lampard reasoned that Hakim Ziyech offers ‘something different’ and Christian Pulisic ‘always is a big threat’ while explaining his decision to pick the two Chelsea wingers over Callum Hudson-Odoi on Saturday.

Hudson-Odoi had been in fine form in the build-up to the Fulham match, having contributed three goals and two assists in his last six outings.

But the 20-year-old had to settle for a 15-minute cameo in the club’s 1-0 victory over Fulham, with Lampard opting for Ziyech and Pulisic as his starting wingers at Craven Cottage.

But the Chelsea manager has promised Hudson-Odoi ‘many, many minutes’ and suggested the academy graduate could be restored to the line-up for Tuesday’s trip to Leicester City.

“There has been a real uplift in Callum’s form recently, and that is part of his development. Now he’s going by people and showing a lot of confidence,” said Lampard in his post-match conference on Saturday.

“He had to get over a serious injury last season.

“Hakim gives us something different, he was outstanding in the period he was fit when we were on a really good run, Christian always is a big threat. When those three are fit, there’s normally one who can’t start the game, but they must come on and impact the game because you generally make substitutions with wingers.

“I had Leicester in mind, I’ll have to see how the players react in the next day or two, but in this busy period the players will have to accept sometimes being an impact. Callum is very exciting at the minute, he’s approaching it all the right way and he’ll get many, many minutes.”

Mason Mount scored the only goal of the game to earn Chelsea a crucial 1-0 win over fellow London club Fulham in the Premier League.