Frank Lampard explains why he didn’t start N’Golo Kante in Saturday’s home defeat to West Ham

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has fingered the club’s medical team’s warning for not starting the Blues mercurial midfieder N’Golo Kante in the home defeat to West Ham on Saturday.

Frank Lampard says he listened to his medical team when making the decision to name N’Golo Kante on the bench against West Ham, report the Express.

The Hammers earned a first win in eight matches with a 1-0 victory against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Aaron Cresswell’s third goal of the season was the difference as he struck shortly into the second half, bending a low shot into the bottom corner.

Kante has had a mixed season with injury limiting him to just seven appearances for the Blues in the Premier League. In the last four seasons, Kante has missed just 10 games in the league.

Kante would eventually come in the 63rd minute but he was unable to rescue a point for Chelsea.

After the match, Lampard was asked about the options he has in midfield and the decision not to start with Kante.

And the Chelsea boss admitted his medical staff had been in ongoing dialogue about how to protect the midfielder after struggling with injury.

He told Chelsea TV: “I’ve listened to three or four months of the medical team telling me that no one has given him rest and that’s why he’s had problems this season.

“So after two big and physical games for him, it felt the right thing to do in terms of giving him a [rest] with what we have coming up.

“I just expect more from us whatever the personnel.

“That good problem means that whoever you pick in there can be doing what we did in there today.

“I get that. Sometimes you can have down days.”

It is now back-to-back league defeats for Lampard’s side and he said his players had received a wake-up call after receiving plenty of praise this season.

“Sometimes you can have down days,” he said.

“The process that we are in, I think today might not be the worst.

“I hate losing, I hate losing against West Ham in a London derby. “I hate the feeling of it. But it might be a reality check for all of us.

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