13:07

Frank Lampard has said Chelsea will still be without N’Golo Kanté when they visit Wolves tomorrow.

Kanté has missed Chelsea’s last two games with an ankle injury and the trip to Molineux has come too soon for the midfielder, who faces a race against time to be fit for next week’s Champions League game against Valencia at Stamford Bridge.

“N’Golo is not fit yet,” Chelsea’s manager said. “He still has issues with his ankle. The medical team are working with him. He is in a transition period and we are trying to get him on the pitch. He is doing some physical work but this game comes too soon for him. “Hopefully he is close. I don’t want to jump the gun because we are waiting for improvements for that final step to get him where we want him to be on the pitch. Hopefully that will be in the next week or so.”

The good news for Chelsea is that Mateo Kovacic, Pedro and Antonio Rudiger are fit after shaking off injuries, but Emerson Palmieri is a doubt with the thigh problem he picked up on international duty. Meanwhile Callum Hudson-Odoi, who is close to signing a new deal, and Reece James will make their comebacks from long-term injuries when they play for the Under-23s tonight.

“Callum is going to play for the 23s this evening along with Reece James,” Lampard said. “They will get minutes and it’s important now because Callum has been training with us for a while but there are still issues that we need to make sure are OK with the injury itself, in terms of the strength and where the injury is. He’ll need to get match fit, which is why these games are really beneficial for him. It will be great to see that.

“Reece James is similar, not such a long time out but he needs games for similar reasons. I’m pleased with that. They are two young players that are going to be big for this club going forward and we’ll all be watching tonight.”