Rafael Benitez said he took Frank Lampard off against Manchester United in order to keep the Chelsea midfielder fresh.
Interim manager Benitez was again barracked by Blues fans when he replaced Lampard and Victor Moses with John Mikel Obi and Eden Hazard early in the second half of the FA Cup quarter-final at Old Trafford.
Lampard played in Thursday’s Europa League defeat against Steaua Bucharest, which was a major factor in the Spaniard’s decision to withdraw him.
Benitez explained: “They [United] played at home and played on Tuesday. We played in Romania on Thursday – they had everything in their favour.
“We travelled from Romania and I knew we had some tired players and we had to manage them.
“We had to pick a starting 11 with fresh legs but we knew we would have to make substitutions and we did.
“Obi had fresh legs. Frank gave 100%, [but] you have to manage the squad.”
The double substitution worked, with Hazard pulling a goal back and Ramires equalising as Chelsea stormed back from 2-0 down to secure a replay.
And the Blues might have won it had United keeper David De Gea not pulled off two late saves.
“I think we should have won the game,” said Benitez.
“We played good football in the second half. The team deserved the winning goal.”
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This is good football.but benitez should ve learnt that mikel is better in the middle.let's focus on winning rather than playing political football.with this second squad ,demba ba should start and moses sub.then cfc will be back on winning mentality.up chelsea!