Olivier Giroud is available to start after a difficult couple of months when his future was in uncertainty, Frank Lampard has said ahead of the Tottenham game.
The manager has pointed out that the Frenchman himself accepted that he was not ready to start firing immediately after his the transfer window slammed shut, but he is much fitter now.
“Oli had a very difficult December. I was asked every few days if he would leave, and that’s a difficult position for a player to be in,” Lampard said at a press conference as quoted by the club’s official website.
“When I spoke to him before the break he said himself he needed a few weeks to get properly, properly fit. It will have been a difficult time, which is why he wasn’t really available to start against Manchester United.
“The way he has worked this week he is available to start. He needs to keep doing what he is doing.”
Giroud will be providing extra competition for Tammy Abraham who is also eager to play on Saturday. Lampard warns his best goalscorer, however, that it’s not guaranteed.
“He’s going to want to play, but he has to understand he needs to be fit and firing,” the boss said of Abraham. “We have had a period with Tammy where he was injured, came into the team, then missed a game. These things can’t go on forever.
“And there is competition in that area. Olivier is now fit, Michy [Batshuayi] is there. There are choices for me to make.”