Lampard to play in plaster cast

England midfielder Frank Lampard (L) wears a cast on his right wrist while training at Barcelona's Olympic Stadium on 27 March. Chelsea have played down fears over Lampard's fitness, with assistant manager Steve Clarke saying that the midfielder will wear a lightweight plaster cast for the Premiership match against Watford on 31 March.

Chelsea have played down fears over the fitness of Frank Lampard, saying the England midfielder will play against Watford in the Premiership on Saturday in a lightweight plaster cast.

Lampard sustained a fractured bone in his wrist while on international duty with England for their Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Andorra.

The injury prevented him from playing in the 3-0 win over Andorra but he has trained for the last two days with the Chelsea squad and assistant manager Steve Clarke confirmed that he would play against rock-bottom Watford at Vicarage Road.

"Frank is good. He has trained the last couple of days with a cast on and he is much more comfortable with the injury. He will play against Watford," said Clarke.

Clarke also rejected suggestions that Lampard wanted to come home from international duty once he knew the injury would rule him out of the Andorra qualifier.

"The boy was injured and he couldn't play in the match. The decision was taken not to play him, not to risk him against Andorra.

"His return was never an issue. We didn't ask for him to come back and he never asked to come back. He stayed with the England squad to support the team and that is the end of the matter."

Lampard's performances for England have come in for heavy criticism together with the rest of Steve McClaren's side.

The midfielder has scored 20 goals so far this season for the champions but has not been able to reproduce the same kind of form at international level.

Lampard had a difficult World Cup campaign in Germany and his performances during England's Euro 2008 qualifiers have shown no significant signs of improvement.

But Clarke was unconcerned when asked why Lampard cannot recreate his club form for England and added that Chelsea always manage to get the best out of him.

"Whenever I watch England play, Frank always gives 100 percent for his country in every game he plays.

"I think when he plays for Chelsea, everyone knows his value to the club. We appreciate what he does for us and we are very happy with his performances."

Clarke's own future at the club has been the subject of intense speculation this season, along with coach Jose Mourinho.

The Portuguese coach insists his backroom staff do not need a contract as they have a job for life with him - wherever he goes.

But Clarke's current deal with the club expires in the summer and there has been speculation that it will not be renewed.

However, Mourinho's number two says he expects to be at the club next term although he revealed there had been no discussions over a new contract as yet.

Chelsea could go nine points behind Manchester United at the top of the Premiership by the time they kick-off against Watford.

United face Blackburn at Old Trafford at 3pm while Chelsea get their game under way at 5.15.

But Clarke insists they are not worried by United's opportunity to put more pressure on them.

"Watford are fighting for their lives and they need to win the match.

"We are fighting to be champions again and we know we need to win the match. We have to win all our games. The mind set we have is to go out tomorrow and win. It does not matter what Manchester United do before us, because we have to win the game."