Chelsea boss Frank Lampard insisted Willy Caballero was not to blame for Leicester’s second goal in the 2-2 draw after the Chelsea manager picked his stand-in keeper over £71million No 1 Kepa Arrizabalaga.
However, Caballero was given the nod for a rare league fixture after a string of Arrizabalaga errors but drew the spotlight at 1-1 when he chased a cross and was out of position as Ben Chilwell finished for 2-1.
Lampard backed his keeper over the situation and chose to blame his backline for failing to close down Chilwell.
Asked if Caballero was at fault, he said: ‘Not in my opinion, no. As the ball travels on the cross, it is amiss hit cross and he follows that and he retreatsto his goal when he realises he can’t get it. The problem was that when we defend we sink to the six yard box and when Chilwell pops up someone has to be tighter.
‘I was right behind the Harvey Barnes goal it was typical the deflection it was instantly in so there wasn’t much he could do with either goal.’
Having retained Caballero from the FA Cup win over Hull, Lampard added: ‘You make decisions every week and every day. No decision is easy as such. With a keeper you probably do give it a bit more thought and more time, especially I suppose if someone seems to be the designated No 1.
‘But that can’t be the end of the story. We have to be competitive. Willy trains well and acts well and did well against Hull last week and I decided to stick with him.’