Lampard wary of Forest threat

Frank Lampard says Chelsea must be wary of the threat posed by Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Steve Cooper’s side are fighting against relegation but have recently beaten Brighton and Southampton and caused problems for Liverpool and Manchester United.

Forest’s pace on the counter-attack and threat from set-pieces has been impressive and the Blues’ interim boss Lampard has told his players they cannot afford to take them lightly.

“We have to give them complete respect,” he said.

“They’ve got a strong squad, strong coach and effective way of playing. They’ve evolved through the season in terms of their style, which is very effective.

“They’ve got a lot of speed on the counter-attack and are very threatening in terms of set-pieces and some of the more direct stuff, which is fair play because they’re fighting for everything.”

With Ben Chilwell and Marc Cucurella both ruled out, youngster Lewis Hall is expected to feature at left-back for Chelsea.

Chilwell suffered a hamstring injury during the recent win at Bournemouth.

Lampard opted to bring on the experienced Cesar Azpilicueta rather than Hall, but the 18-year-old is now set to add to the five Premier League appearances he has made so far.

Lampard said: “Lewis has a chance. I was tempted to put him on last week, but with the nature of the game I felt the experience of Azpi was more suitable at that point.

“I’ll view this game on its merits as well, but in terms of Lewis I’ve been really impressed with his training. He’s a very good player – a really talented player.

“I didn’t work with Lewis before but I watched him from afar and was really impressed, and he hasn’t dampened that at all. The opposite.

“So he’s in the running for the last four games to be involved.”