Tammy Abraham continues to be bothered by the ankle injury he picked up over a month ago, late in Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal. Since then, he’s started just 1 of Chelsea’s last 6 games, making two additional substitute appearances — clearly without being 100 per cent — and suffering another setback earlier this week.
As Lampard revealed after today’s game, which Abraham missed completely, the 22-year-old has actually sought specialist treatment on the ongoing issue. And while the head coach did not say what the final diagnosis might have been, he remains hopeful to have his first-choice striker back soon.
Lampard on Abraham: "He went abroad, he went to Barcelona - to get some other eyes on the ankle. " Says he hopes it's not a long time issue.
— Dan Levene (@danlevene) February 29, 2020
The need to seek a second opinion arose from the ongoing nature of the injury. Chelsea had been hoping that it was mostly just a function pain threshold whether Tammy could play or not, but it sounds like there may be more going on than previously believed. As Lampard explained before the game, the ankle keeps getting inflamed, thus limiting the young striker.
“Tammy is not active for the next couple of days. How long is he going to be out? I don’t know. The inflammation is causing pain, so we are looking at ways to get rid of it. Could surgery be an option? As far as I know, no. It’s certainly not been mentioned.
“It’s a month later [from the Arsenal game] and we’re still talking about it so it’s been a frustrating one. We have seen him come back and then go away again. Sometimes things that are [to do with] pain threshold are like that. If he is not comfortable, he has to come out for a few days at least and see where it is going.”
-Frank Lampard; source: Guardian
Abraham’s absence is just one of the many contributing factors to Chelsea’s inconsistent season, which rolled along it’s merrily frustrating path with Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Bournemouth. (Hey, at least we didn’t lose!)
Whether Tammy can return anytime soon unfortunately remains a big question mark as well.
Bit more info on Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham ankle injury. Now know its “around the ligament” causing inflammation/pain. Xrays were negative. Was assumed injury occurred during collision but was a slight ankle roll heading into it. Is this potential medial/inner injury?? #EPL #CFC pic.twitter.com/2RdZgZC3bF
— InjuryMechanisms (@IMechanisms) February 29, 2020