Chelsea News Roundup: Latest on defender's injury, Rudiger unhappy with lack of playing time, and more - 20th December 2020

Chelsea are under a bit of pressure ahead of their clash against West Ham United on Monday, especially since teams around them had a good weekend. The Blues will hope to put the loss against Wolves behind them when they take on the Hammers. We take a look at the latest news featuring Chelsea from 20th December 2020.

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Lampard reveals why Chelsea are not title-contenders yet

Chelsea were flying high in the Premier League before they were brought back down to earth by Everton and Wolves. Frank Lampard's men are now nine points behind league leaders Liverpool. The Blues have missed a couple of key players, and it’s clear that some of the new signings are yet to perform consistently.

Chelsea spent big money to add more quality to their squad in the summer but Lampard feels the group of players need to be together longer to build confidence.

“The realism is we are not a Liverpool of last year or a Manchester City of the year before where you can just go out and win, win, win, win, win. In periods, you have to be ready for some tough moments,” Lampard said.

“Part of my reasoning to dampen that was other teams have probably been together longer and built for longer which builds confidence within the group of players that they can deal with things better in games,” he added.

Chelsea have a decision to make regarding a fresh injury blow

Reece James picked up a knock against Wolves in Chelsea’s last game and the full-back reportedly underwent a scan to determine the severity of the problem.

Fortunately, initial scans revealed the problem wasn't too serious. However, Chelsea will have to take a call on whether to wait or allow James to undergo a minor operation to quicken the recovery process.

As per Goal, James trained last week, but he complained of the pain in his knee. The scan results revealed that he had a fluid build-up in his right knee.

Reece James 'may need to undergo surgery on troublesome right knee' https://t.co/6EIu2EOfrr

— MailOnline Sport (@MailSport) December 19, 2020

Rudiger not happy with his present situation

Following Thiago Silva’s arrival, Antonio Rudiger has fallen down the pecking order at Chelsea and has only managed a handful of appearances this season.

The German has made just one appearance in the Premier League, and has played four times in the Champions League. He is currently being seen as a backup option to Silva and Kurt Zouma.

Rudiger admitted that he is unhappy with the current situation of lack of playing time, but remained coy on a possible move in January.

"I can't be satisfied with my situation, but the fight has been accepted," the 27-year old told German outlet ZDF (h/t Goal).

"What will happen in January is a long way off. I'm completely relaxed," Rudiger added.

Antonio Rudiger on his Chelsea future 🗣: “I can't be satisfied with my situation, but the fight has been accepted. What will happen in January is a long way off. I'm completely relaxed.”#CFC | #CHEWHU | @ToniRuediger pic.twitter.com/w6dEs49wV8

— ChelseaFCBlogs (@ChelseaFCBlogs_) December 20, 2020