Manager Manuel Pellegrini has already ruled a number of players out of contention for the upcoming Community Shield match.
Speaking to the Official Site ahead of the game, the gaffer confirmed that those players who had only returned to training this week would not be called upon for the season opener, meaning Martin Demichelis, Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna, Fernandinho and Sergio Aguero will be missing along with new loan signing Frank Lampard.
It is purely a matter of them not being fit enough yet to be risked, rather than any injury concerns per se.
‘All the players that have arrived on Monday will not be ready on Sunday. These players have had a special pre season for this week and it will continue into next week. Lampard is not ready to play. We will see if he is ready to play in the Premier League.’
Concerning injuries, Pellegrini added that only concern on that front was Alvaro Negredo – how is recovering well – but otherwise nobody else has picked up a knock or a niggle or anything serious.
The gaffer also dismissed suggestions that the game would be another friendly, and following Arsene Wenger’s earlier comments, that has certainly added a bit of spice to it.
‘It’s not a friendly match. It’s an important game against Arsenal. Maybe both teams will not arrive in our best moments to play because both teams have players that have just returned from the World Cup, but I think it will be a good game. It’s important for both teams to win so we will try to do it. I was surprised when I heard what Arsene Wenger said. I think that as managers, we have enough problems without talking about other teams.’
He goes on to say that he doesn’t see the issue as Lampard is a short term loan, and he doesn’t get the ‘traitor’ reaction from some Chelsea fans because Chelsea didn’t want him to continue playing for them.
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