Frank Lampard makes special plea ahead of return to Stamford Bridge

Bengaluru, October 4: Former Chelsea legend, now Derby County manager Frank Lampard is considering making a special plea to his former side to help his Derby side's chances against Chelsea in their Carabao Cup fourth round tie away at Stamford Bridge later this month.

The Chelsea all-time top-scorer have recently beaten Premier League giants Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford last week and England Under-21s Mason Mount impressed during the game. However, in the next tie when the Rams will face Chelsea the player is expected to miss the game because the youngster is on loan from the London side and Premier League rules dictate that loan players cannot play against their parent club.

This same rule is also likely to rule out another Derby player, Fikayo Tomori who also is on loan from Chelsea and has impressed in Ram's colours regularly.

However, there is an exception in EFL regulations regarding the matter. As per EFL rules, an allowance can be made if an agreement in writing is made between the two clubs. And Lampard, who has served 13 years at Stamford Bridge now has suggested that he is set to make a cheeky request to his former club to allow both the loanees to be eligible to play and he is hopeful that his old club will allow the youngsters to play in the fourth-round tie.

“It is a conversation to be had and I think it is Chelsea-led because they are their players," Lampard claimed. “I am pretty sure it will be Chelsea’s decision. I think everyone knows what my decision would be, so it will be up to them.”

Lampard has made a fine start to his managerial campaign this season with his side sitting at the ninth place in the championship, only six points adrift of the top spot.

The match against Chelsea will be his second high profile match within a month following the tie against Manchester United and it will be the first time he will face his former club as a manager.