Mount in Chelsea’s squad for Palace game
Mason Mount is in the Chelsea squad for Saturday’s derby against Crystal Palace but Ross Barkley remains sidelined and Antonio Rudiger is likely to be out for at least three more weeks.
Mount could play against the Eagles despite going off with an ankle injury during the Champions League game against Ajax.
He will be assessed on Saturday before Frank Lampard, who is without the suspended Jorginho, decides his line-up for the game.
But Barkley has been ruled out and manager Lampard has revealed that defender Rudiger is unlikely to return this month after having surgery on a pelvic injury.
“Ross has got an ongoing issue so he’s not in the squad tomorrow,” Lampard said at a news conference on Friday.
“With Mason, he’s in our squad. We’ll give him another 24 hours and we’ll make a call on that one in the morning.”
Both Mount and Barkley were named in the England squad on Thursday along with Chelsea team-mates Tammy Abraham, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Fikayo Tomori.
However, it remains to be seen whether boss Gareth Southgate will be able to call upon the midfielders for the European Championship qualifiers against Montenegro on 14 November and Kosovo on 17 November.
Lampard said. “It’s a conversation that I’ll have with Gareth or [England assistant boss] Steve [Holland], and with Ross, to see how it pans out for him over the next 10 days. So I’m not sure on that one.”
Rudiger, meanwhile, has not played since the win at Wolves on 14 September – his only first-team appearance this season.
Having returned to action after a knee problem, the German had to be substituted at half-time at Molineux because of another injury.
Rudiger this week saw a specialist, who recommended surgery.
“He had an operation and he’s going to be out probably for around three weeks,” Lampard explained.
“Then we’ll have to see where the match fitness comes in, because it’s a long time Toni’s been out now.
“But it was nice to get something definitive about it. We’ve been trying to find a solution.
“Toni’s been having some issues and it’s not easy for a player in that position.
“Hopefully in three weeks’ time we’ll be in a lot better place.”
