Frank Lampard has explained his decision to start Timo Werner in the central striker role for the clash for Chelsea's clash with Manchester City today.
Werner has had to play out wide since his arrival in the summer with Lampard playing Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud in the middle.
And the German has struggled to adapt to that role at times having played centrally for most of his career, including his excellent season of last for RB Leipzig which saw him attract the interest from Chelsea.
But against Man City in today's Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge, Werner was handed the central role that many have been desperate to see him in.
And ahead of the game, Lampard explained his decision to Sky Sports, saying: "Timo clearly can play in the central area.
"We’ve had to use him outside on the wing at times this season for different reasons - mainly injuries, and I’ve always been in the mindset to use him centrally.
"We have Christian (Pulisic) fit now on the left and Hakim’s (Ziyech) back in, so different game, different opposition and different possibilities within the game.
"Man City can have a lot of possession and we might be able to find some space behind them and that sort of stuff is Timo’s game.”
Ziyech returned to the starting lineup having missed out through a knee injury from the start of December, missing six games.
And speaking about Ziyech and indeed Pulisic, who has had injury struggles of his own this season, Lampard added: "Hakim has been out for a while, so we’re hopeful he feels good and feels fresh.
"Christian is getting better every game, so those choices are important for us because these are players that can win you games, score goals and make goals and make magic moments in game.
"We need that, any team that wants to be successful needs that. At times, you rely on can we produce something up top and with those two, we hope we can.”
