Chelsea have announced that the England midfielder Frank Lampard will be out of action for "another two to three weeks". Lampard has not played for more than two months after undergoing surgery to correct a hernia at the end of August. He last played for Chelsea in a 2-0 win over Stoke at Stamford Bridge on 28 August.

A club statement said that Lampard had suffered "a fresh muscle injury" in training on Thursday. "The vice-captain was on course for a return in Sunday's game [at home to Sunderland] but [the manager] Carlo Ancelotti announced today that the player suffered an injury to an abductor muscle (in the groin area) near the end of the session," the club said.

The Brazilian defender Alex is also out of the Sunderland game, with a knee injury.

Nicolas Anelka, however, is fit to play, having missed the midweek win over Fulham with a back problem.