90min

Chelsea to Rush Tammy Abraham Back From Injury if They Do Not Recruit Striker Before Leicester Game

By Matt O'Connor-Simpson

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​Chelsea could ask Tammy Abraham to play through the pain barrier if they do not manage to sign a new striker before their game against Leicester on Saturday. 

Abraham picked up an ankle injury during the Blues' 2-2 draw against London rivals Arsenal which forced him out of his side's FA Cup win over Hull City last weekend. The 22-year-old has been in terrific form this season, top scoring for Frank Lampard's side with 15 goals in all competitions.

The club are monitoring the England international's fitness ahead of the Blues' important fixture against the second-placed Foxes, and the ​Telegraph have reported that he will be asked to play through his injury if the club do not manage to recruit another striker before the transfer deadline.

After the fixture, ​Chelsea have a 16-day break for Abraham to recover fully and they are therefore willing to risk a setback to the striker's fitness. During the newly introduced winter break, Lampard has confirmed that the players will be given some time off and there is no plans to travel abroad for a training camp.


​"The players will have some time off, get some rest, we are not going to travel to train anywhere," Lampard stated, as quoted by ​football.london.

 "The players will get some rest and I will let them be with their families, go back to their countries or whatever, their choice, and then we will be back here to train and have a good portion of, not a mini pre-season, but there will be some hard work." 

Chelsea remain very keen to recruit offensive reinforcements this month, particularly with Olivier Giroud's move to Inter ​close to being confirmed - though Spurs have also been offered a last gasp chance to ​sign the Frenchman.

Krzysztof Piątek, Moussa Dembele and Luka Jovic have all been linked with moves to Stamford Bridge but none of these deals appear close to being completed with time swiftly running out for Lampard to bolster his squad. 

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