Chelsea have confirmed that midfield talisman Frank Lampard picked up a calf injury in practice on Wednesday, but further scans taken on Thursday have shown little major damage and he is therefore expected to be ready for the match against Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium on Monday. Chelsea have said that they'll continue to monitor him closely over the weekend, but bear in mind that this is the team that said he'd be ready to play against West Ham in September - his return didn't actually come until Tottenham Hotspur more than three months later. So, armed with that rather depressing little nugget of salt, here's the quote from the club:
Frank Lampard is suffering from a minor calf problem which will be monitored over the next few days. The midfielder, who has played every minute of our last six matches since Christmas, is expected to be available for Bolton on Monday night.
-Source: ChelseaFC.com
Make of that what you will, but it's obviously more encouraging than hearing it needed to be amputated or something. Hopefully the team is right and that he'll be ready to lead Chelsea's midfield against Owen Coyle's rather overachieving band up north.