Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard has explained why midfielders Danny Drinkwater and Tiemoue Bakayoko were not included in the Blues squad to face German side Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday evening.
Both players found themselves out of favour under previous boss Maurizio Sarri, with Bakayoko leaving on a loan deal to Serie A side AC Milan.
However, with the departure of Sarri and the arrival of Lampard, it was a clean sheet for both players who would have been eager to impress their new manager during pre-season. They would have been optimistic after being named in the starting lineup for the friendly against Championship side Reading on Sunday.
But that optimism would have been short lived as they were both left in England as the squad flew to Germany to take on Red Bull.
When asked about the omissions, Lampard insisted that the size of his squad meant that players had to be left at home.
"We’ve got a squad of a lot of players and at this point the balance of training and playing is important and I can’t bring everyone and give everyone 90 minutes," the Chelsea boss said after the 5-3 victory.
"So they are players who have stayed back to train, rather than travel and not play. So I wouldn't read too much into it on one game. We are a work in progress with the squad.
"There may be things that happen when we have to pick a squad for the Premier League, the Champions League, but no door is open or shut.
"We just work every and see the developments."
