Chelsea manager Frank Lampard refused to confirm whether or not he plans to offer Timo Werner some rest for the visit of Sheffield United on Saturday evening. Werner was benched away at Burnley last week but ended up starting the match after Christian Pulisic suffered an injury in the warm up.
Werner started again in midweek, scoring two penalties in the Champions League group stage win over Rennes at Stamford Bridge.
The Germany international has so far started all 10 league and European matches, even playing 90 minutes in the Carabao Cup penalty shoot-out defeat to Tottenham in September.
The 24-year-old has seven goals and three assists in 11 appearances as the ex-RB Leipzig frontman looks to repay Chelsea’s £48million outlay.
But Lampard has refused to say whether or not Werner will start against Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United this weekend.
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“I’m not going to give the team away,” he said when asked if he plans to give Werner some rest against the Blades.
“I’ll look to manage his minutes going forward, not just speaking about tomorrow.”
Chelsea are on an encouraging run having won all of their last three matches, scoring 10 goals while conceding none.
The Blues have kept five successive clean sheets with summer signing Edouard Mendy proving an excellent addition.
Lampard added: “In the last few games we’ve found a nice balance. There’s a versatility in the way new players play.
“We had a slight change in formation and the 4-3-3 worked well recently. There’s a balance with the system and the players need to adjust that as well.
“Defensively, individuals have made good performances in that period. The collective is reflection of that.
While Werner has been a prominent player for Lampard of late, Olivier Giroud has made just one start all season, in the cup defeat to Spurs.
He has had to settle for appearances off the bench in the league and in Europe, despite the 34-year-old striker signing a new one-year contract in May.
“He’s given a great response. He’s amazing around the group,” the Chelsea manager continued.
“I can’t speak highly enough of him. It’s not a part of my job I like. He was a huge factor in us getting top four but I rely on great professionals.”
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