Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante started on the Chelsea bench against West Ham and the decision backfired.
When asked why Kante didn’t start against West Ham, Lampard told Chelsea TV: “I’ve listened to three or four months of the medical team telling me that no one has given him rest and that’s why he’s had problems this season.
“So after two big and physical games for him, it felt the right thing to do in terms of giving him a [rest] with what we have coming up.
“I just expect more from us whatever the personnel.
“That good problem means that whoever you pick in there can be doing what we did in there today.
“I get that. Sometimes you can have down days.”
Kante has had a mixed season with injury limiting him to just seven appearances for the Blues in the Premier League. In the last four seasons, Kante has missed just 10 games in the league.