Frank Lampard says that he’s had to put the brakes on Jordan Pickford’s return from injury - to stop the keeper putting his World Cup hopes in jeopardy.
The Everton boss says England’s No.1 is so keen to be back playing following a thigh injury sustained in the Merseyside derby, insisting he "would go and play for England next week on one leg!" But Lampard has drawn on his own experience as a player and is urging Pickford to be patient - to avoid any risk of missing the finals in Qatar in November.
"I will be honest - Jordan would go and play on one quad for England in a friendly next week, so we have to be sure that we do the right thing!" the manager explained. "I have spoken to Gareth Southgate about it, and our physios and England’s physios are in conjunction together, talking about it to make sure we do the right thing for Jordan.
"And the right thing for Jordan is the right thing for Everton and England. We just have to rehab it well. We can’t take any risks with him, If we did, it would affect our batch of games up to the winter break.
"If you were to re-injure the quad, it would obviously affect his run up to the World Cup."
Lampard is confident the goalkeeper - who has been outstanding for Everton so far this season - will return either against Southampton on October 1, or failing that in the game with Manchester United a week later. That will give him plenty of time to recover his match fitness and sharpness before the World Cup begins on November 20, even though he concedes Pickford is desperate to return earlier.
"He is keen… he is really keen! But I learnt as a player the negatives of that. I re-injured my quad a few times, trying to push my physio to get me back quicker," he explained. "I’m now more experienced, so I can be on the other hand and make sure he does it in the right way. The experts are the physios. He’s keen but he is very mature. He wants to play but we will find the right way.
"Hopefully it will be in the next two or three weeks and he will be back, it’s as simple as that."
Lampard does have Abdoulaye Doucoure back from injury for the visit of West Ham on Sunday, in a game which will plunge the loser into bottom three during the international break. But the Blues boss is adamant he isn’t concerned about his team, despite their failure to pick up a win in the Premier League so far this season.
"It is what it is," he said of the relegation zone dog fight with the Hammers. "It’s the Premier League so it’s always going to be tough, and you are always find these side stories around every game.
"We just have to be calm and believe in the form we’ve shown, because we deserve to have got more out of the season so far."
