Chelsea FC great Frank Lampard was due to make his Major League Soccer debut for New York City FC this weekend. These plans have now been put on hold after the midfielder picked up a calf strain in training.

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Sunday was supposed to mark the first appearance of Lampard for the club that he was meant to join at the start of the MLS season. Impressive contributions while on loan at Manchester City towards the end of 2014 caused the partner club to extend his stay, making him miss the start of the campaign.

After taking time out to go on holiday, he eventually joined up with his US-based teammates a few weeks ago, with Sunday’s fixture against Toronto FC set to have introduced him properly to New Yorkers and MLS fans across the country.

Unfortunately, the supporters – many of whom were already incensed by the initial delay – will now have to wait even longer after the Englishman picked up the knock.

The good news, however, is that he should be raring to go next week. Speaking to NYCFC.com he explained his situation:

‘Unfortunately I sustained a small strain to my calf during a session.

‘Whilst I’ve been taking it day by day since then and have been involved in light training, I’ve just been advised by the medical team that it needs a few days’ rest for it to heal fully.

‘The good news is that I should be back in full training next week.’

While this is evidently disappointing news for all those involved, it’s never good to take chances with injuries. Especially with Lampard at the age of 37, trying to play though pains and strains has the potential to invoke much more long-term serious damage.

Futhermore, why would you want to see a 60% Lampard take the field when you can hold on one more week to see him at 100%? Given the length of time NYCFC fans have been waiting, it shouldn’t make that much of a difference.

From a club’s perspective, though, this is a public relations nightmare. Lampard was brought in as one of the marquee players who was supposed to get the new franchise off the ground and help them establish a base in New York. After Man City essentially took him at their will, and then kept him throught the start of the MLS season, compalints were already being thrown their way.

Now, after marketing Sunday’s game as Frank Lampard’s debut, it would not be surprising to see a bit of a backlash from the fans. I should make it clear that this is not suggesting that there will be dissent in the crowd during the match, but more that there may be many fans who will seek some sort of refund for not exactly getting what they paid for.

Oh well, Andrea Pirlo is on the way so at least they can start looking forward to that too.

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