The defender has a minor muscle injury that will keep him sidelined for the visit to Stamford Bridge of Pep Guardiola’s side, though there was better news on the comeback of Hakim Ziyech.

‘Reece James is out, he’s got a small hamstring problem,’ reported Lampard.

On Ziyech, the boss added: ‘He’s fit to train and has trained the last two or three days so I’ll have to make the decision on whether he’s ready to start.’

Despite City’s most recent game being postponed due to Covid-19 cases within the squad, Lampard expects our first action of 2021 to be played as planned on Sunday afternoon.

‘I’ve not been given the chances of the game being postponed but I’m aware of the situation and at the moment the game is on,’ he added.

‘We know that Manchester City had some positives within their training ground. We have had a couple ourselves but not on the playing staff and that’s the current situation.’