Frank Lampard remains unsure over whether N'Golo Kante will be fit enough to play for Chelsea against Manchester United next weekend.
Kante has been struggling with a knee injury he sustained the week prior to Chelsea's Europa League final victory over Arsenal in Baku.
He travelled on the club's pre-season tour of Japan but was sent back to London midway through it for treatment on the issue.
Kante, 28, came off the bench for the last 20 minutes of Chelsea's draw with Borussia Monchengladbach over the weekend.
"That was always the plan [to play 20 minutes]," Lampard said. "He's working a little bit now and it was just to give him the feeling of match time as he hasn't been able to do that yet as it's an awkward injury.
"I just wanted him to feel it and us to see it as you cannot replicate it unless you do it. It was a good opportunity to do that for him and we'll work hard on getting him fit.
"Who knows if he'll be ready for next week or not, but we'll work hard for that.
"We also have to be a bit careful as he's played so many games over the past three seasons and we don't want to rush him back if it's going to be a negative. We'll do our best to get him back."
