Frank Lampard has assured Christian Pulisic he will have opportunities to play at Chelsea after the USA star came off the bench in the 4-1 win over Southampton.
Pulisic returned to Lampard’s squad for the visit to Southampton after being dropped completely for Chelsea’s previous game against Lille.
The 21-year-old has struggled to nail down a place at Chelsea and is reportedly considering a loan switch in January if he continues to be sidelined by Lampard.
After Pulisic grabbed an assist off the bench against Southampton, Lampard said: ‘I get asked weekly “why is he not in the squad?” and “why is he on the bench?” when it comes to certain players.
‘We need all of the players. You need the contribution of Michy coming on and getting his goal. He’s been training really well.
‘Christian coming on with a great assist for the goal. Those players, absolutely we need them as the games come thick and fast.
‘At the moment we are going well and keeping a similar core of the team.
‘But we are going to need everyone and that means training at a level and being happy as a complete group when we come away and get a result like this.’
Chelsea agreed a £58million deal with Borussia Dortmund to sign Pulisic last January and the forward arrived at the club in the summer.
Pulisic is determined to fight for his place and spoke publicly about his frustration at not playing regularly.
Lampard reacted to that call for more game time by insisting Pulisic needed to raise his standards if he was to become a starter at Chelsea.
After an impressive performance against Southampton, club action is now on hold for Chelsea as international fixtures take centre stage for the next two weeks.
