Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has explained “one of my difficult problems” over the selection of his players for matches, stating he “can’t pick them all in the game.”

Lampard left Christian Pulisic and England international Ross Barkley out of his 18-man squad for the midweek Champions League victory in Lille.

Lampard said: “This is one of my difficult problems in this job, that I have good players and everyone has a story.

“Christian Pulisic has a price-tag, Ross Barkley is an international player, Mason Mount is an international player.

“Callum Hudson-Odoi has just signed a new contract, Bayern Munich wanted to buy him last summer, he is an international player.

“Ruben Loftus-Cheek will come back and be an international player — and I can’t pick them all in the game, unfortunately.

“All I have to demand of them is that they show me in training or show me in the game when they get the chances to play that they are worthy of their place.

“That’s not to make me sound like a hard taskmaster, that’s just a brutal reality of my job. Next week I might be asked about two other names.”