Carlo Ancelotti is hopeful Chelsea's Frank Lampard will be fit to face MSK Zilina in the Champions League next week. The England midfielder will miss the match against former club West Ham on Saturday after failing to recover from hernia surgery in time.
Lampard's absence is softened by the return of captain John Terry, who like Lampard, missed England's Euro 2012 qualifying victories over Bulgaria and Switzerland.
"John is available to play," said Ancelotti. "Lampard needs to have more time to rest. He trained with us this week and has done very well, but he needs to have more time. Maybe he'll be involved in the Champions League next week.
"I think these players needed to have a rest because they had problems.
"Terry resolved this problem during the two weeks. Lampard had to have the surgery. He did very well because, in seven days, he was able to train again. But obviously we want to give him more time to recover 100%."
