Chelsea have confirmed that England midfielder Frank Lampard will play against Watford in a lightweight plaster cast.
Lampard sustained a fractured bone in his wrist while on international duty
with England for their Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Andorra.
The injury prevented him from playing in the 3-0 win over Andorra but he has
trained for the last two days with the Chelsea squad and assistant manager Steve
Clarke confirmed that he would play against rock-bottom Hornets at Vicarage
Road.
Clarke said: 'Frank is good. He has trained the last couple of days with a
cast on and he is much more comfortable with the injury. He will play against
Watford.'
Clarke also rejected suggestions that Lampard wanted to come home from
international duty once he knew the injury would rule him out of the Andorra
qualifier.
Clarke added: 'The boy was injured and he couldn't play in the match. The
decision was taken not to play him, not to risk him against Andorra.
'He was happy with that decision and he is happy to be back here at Chelsea.
'His return was never an issue. We didn't ask for him to come back and he
never asked to come back. He stayed with the England squad to support the team
and that is the end of the matter.'
Lampard's performances for England have come in for heavy criticism together
with the rest of Steve McClaren's side.
The midfielder has scored 20 goals so far this season for the champions but
has not been able to reproduce the same kind of form at international level.
Lampard had a difficult World Cup campaign in Germany and his performances
during England's Euro 2008 qualifiers have shown no significant signs of
improvement.
But Clarke was unconcerned when asked why Lampard cannot recreate his club
form for England and added that Chelsea always manage to get the best out of
him.
Clarke declared: 'Whenever I watch England play, Frank always gives
100-per-cent for his country in every game he plays.
'If people want to criticise his performances for England, that is not a
concern for me.
'I think when he plays for Chelsea, everyone knows his value to the club.
'We appreciate what he does for us and we are very happy with his
performances.
'But we can only get the best out of Frank Lampard when he is with Chelsea
and I think we do that.'
