Lampard left frustrated as 'problematic' Pulisic injury keeps Chelsea waiting on winger
Frank Lampard remains insistent that Christian Pulisic can prove a hugely influential figure at Chelsea once the club is able to help the American winger solve his hamstring problem.
The United States international, who missed the start of the new campaign, looked set for a run in the Blues' starting XI until he suffered a twinge in the warm-up before last month's game at Burnley.
A previous hamstring injury ended Pulisic's involvement in August's FA Cup final against Arsenal, after he scored the game's opening goal, and he continues to be troubled in that area.
The £58million (€65m/$77m) signing from Borussia Dortmund has been ruled out of Saturday's trip to Newcastle United, three weeks after his Turf Moor setback was described by Lampard as "very minor", and it remains to be seen when he will be next available for selection.
There is no doubt the situation is frustrating to all concerned at Chelsea, with the club's medical staff working to help Pulisic back to full strength.
"With Christian, we're still searching," said Lampard. "He's in a position at the moment where he's had a problematic injury.
"Christian had a history before coming to us of some muscular injuries and he's had them again.
"Everything about Christian and how he is around the training ground, and how he prepares and how much he wants to play, is perfect.
"We need to try to find the right balance between playing and resting and maintenance during the week to try to get the best out of him.
"He's a young player still. It's not abnormal and we will find a solution. I don't want to make more of it than it is, because we want as many games out of Christian as we can possibly get because of his ability.
"But at the minute he's injured so in the short term it's a work in progress.
"But we have a great medical team here and we're very much joined up in the idea of getting the best of Christian, to get him fit as much as we can."
Pulisic has made just three Premier League appearances in the 2020-21 campaign to date, and has failed to add to the Blues' table-leading haul of 20 goals to date.
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