Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has explained his decision to select Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the starting line-up in the Blues' first match of the Premier League's resumption.
Following a three-month hiatus, Chelsea travelled to Villa Park for the behind closed doors game and Loftus-Cheek was selected for his first league appearance of the season.
The 24-year-old has been plagued by injury issues in recent seasons, which has limited his opportunities, but Lampard put faith in the England international against relegation-threatened Villa.
While that may have raised eyebrows considering the concerns about the fitness levels of every player, not just the ones who are only just returning from injury.
"He's trained well. It's been a long injury for him, he was just getting fit before lockdown, he needed games and this period is an opportunity for us to get him working hard," he told Sky Sports.
"He's been working brilliantly in training. We have options and I have to think about who can start, who can bring us something off the bench, and I've gone with Ruben."
Lampard also discussed the challenging situation that clubs find themselves in following the three-month hiatus, which has raised questions about fitness levels.
"As managers and as squads, we're in similar positions where we've been trying to get players fit whilst guarding against injury and pushing too much, so to come back with a different set of circumstances and fitness levels slightly questioned, I'm not sure any of us can really tell you where we're at.
"You just hope we get up to speed quickly enough. I have to say, the players look good in training, can they go and replicate that on the pitch? We'll see."
Despite it coming on June 21, Loftus-Cheek's start against Villa marked his first competitive match of the season following a severe injury he picked up ahead of the Europa League final in 2019.
