Frank Lampard had good and bad news when he provided the latest on the players in his squad who have been suffering from injury or illness recently...

The boss was speaking to the media at Cobham ahead of our meeting with Brighton at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, and when it came to team news there were five players Lampard was able to update on.

Starting with the negative, Toni Rudiger remains out.

'Toni has got a recurring injury in his groin area, not the original knee injury,' Lampard reported.

'We are trying to find a solution because he has still got some pain. We're hopeful it won't be long but I haven't got an end date for you. It's an injury that is ongoing.'

There is better news regarding Andreas Christensen, who limped off in the first half of our game against Liverpool last Sunday.

'Andreas should be okay. He trained with us today. He has missed most of the week.

'He still has a tiny bit of pain but it's hopefully not a risk. He will be in the squad.'

Olivier Giroud has missed the last two games with a nasty illness, but Lampard said the Frenchman is over it now.

'It's been a difficult week for him because it was a strong illness that left him pretty weak. He's been getting a bit of strength back this week and it'll be touch and go to see if he is involved tomorrow.'

Lampard's final updates regarded longer-term absentees Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and first Emerson Palmieri

'Emerson now is going to be the other side of the international break with a hamstring injury.

'Ruben we can't give a date, but he's outside jogging slowly. That's a positive move for this week, it's good to see him outside. We will see how that goes over the next weeks.'

Read more from Lampard, including his thoughts on Brighton and Christian Pulisic