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Lampard provides an injury update on Ziyech

Hakim Ziyech, Chelsea
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The new Blues star lasted only half an hour in Saturday’s win over Leeds before he had to leave the pitch.

Frank Lampard revealed Hakim Ziyech isn’t suffering greatly from his hamstring injury and hopes it means the star will only be out for weeks rather than months.

Ziyech lasted a mere 30 minutes in Chelsea’s 3-1 win over Leeds United before Christian Pulisic replaced him. The American later added the third goal to keep the club within touching distance of Premier League leaders Tottenham and Liverpool.

But a conversation with Ziyech on his hamstring problem has left Lampard hopeful it’s only a ‘minor injury’.

The 27-year-old underwent a scan on his injury on Monday afternoon and further updates are expected ahead of the club’s Champions League match against Krasnodar on Tuesday night.

“He came to us at the back end of last season and trained a lot,” said Lampard in a pre-match conference on Monday.

“The injury [in pre-season] was disappointing and he missed some weeks, but straightaway he showed his intensity to work in the gym and on the training pitches as soon as he was back, and that was why he hit the ground running when he came into the team.

“I hope this is a minor injury. The feeling he had since the game is that it doesn’t feel too bad, which I’m hoping means we’ll be talking a couple of weeks, but we will wait for the scan.

“I’m not worried too much, he’s a fit lad, and he’s shown he will be an important player for us.”

While Ziyech is unavailable for the Krasnodar game, Lampard has confirmed Kepa Arrizabalaga will return in goal and Billy Gilmour will start in midfield.

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