Sky Blues skipper could miss six weeks
Frank Lampard says the loss of injured Sky Blues skipper Ben Sheaf provides an opportunity for others to step up.
The 26-year-old midfielder limped off an hour into Saturday’s late 2-1 defeat at Norwich and Lampard revealed he could be out until the end of February.
“It’s unfortunate,” Lampard told BBC CWR: “He has a muscle injury and is going to be out for between four to possibly six weeks.
“It’s unfortunate for us (given what he means to us) as a player, captain of the club – it was a busy period of games, we rely on him a lot, it can happen to any player at any time in these busy periods. It’s unfortunate but it’s an opportunity for others.”
Wide man Tatsuhiro Sakamoto is fit again but Sheaf joins forwards Haji Wright and Ephron Mason-Clark on the sidelines and Lampard said: “It’s a challenge. Other players have to step up.”
Lampard revealed he is working on incomings during the transfer window, adding: “We want to help the squad if we can. We have options. If we want to bring someone in it has to be improve us in this moment or improve us in the long term. We have to be strategic.”
The Sky Blues return to FA Cup action after last season’s semi-final heartbreak against Man United when they host Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday (18:00 GMT).
Lampard – who scored the winner for Chelsea in the 2009 FA Cup Final – said: “Growing up, from a young boy watching on TV, I’ve loved the competition, I’m still a traditionalist in the sense of how important it is. I was lucky to have good success in it for the most part, so it’s a big competition for me.
“We’ll pick a strong team because we want to do well in it. We’ve got a strong squad, so there might be a couple of chances for players who haven’t been playing so much but I’m picking a team that I want to win the game.”
Manchester United kick off their Asian tour against the ASEAN All Stars on Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur, just a week after the Europa League final loss to Tottenham Hotspur and three days following the conclusion of a dismal season.
To jump into the warm embrace of fans far away may provide some relief from the headlines at home, but the 20-time English champions may find that their standing in Asia is not quite what it was.
The last time the Premier League trophy went to Old Trafford was in 2013. A year earlier, the club commissioned a report which claimed they had 659 million followers worldwide, around half of which were from the Asia-Pacific region.
While there was doubt about such numbers and also how a ‘follower’ is defined, the Red Devils were then clearly the most popular English team in Asia and perhaps the most popular team from anywhere.
