The midfielder has not emerged since picking up a leg injury against Manchester City
Frank Lampard is hoping N’Golo Kante will qualify for the Chelsea Premier League affair with Burnley next weekend.
The French international suffered a horrific injury as the Blues lost 3-1 to Manchester City on 3 January.
He sat out the win over Morecambe in the FA Cup, a win at Fulham in the Premier League and a loss to Leicester City.
Chelsea are in FA Cup action at home at Luton on Sunday, but that game comes too early for Kante – as the Premier League take on Wolves on Wednesday.
‘N’Golo is not appropriate and will not be available,’ said Lampard on the club’s official website. “He is working out on his own with the physios at the moment and we hope he will get it back as soon as possible.
“We need to see with N’Golo, because we don’t want to rip him off, but we hope to get him back next week.”
Although Kante will not make it to the fourth round of the FA Cup, his French international counterpart Olivier Giroud has passed a fit for the match.
Giroud was not in the travel party for Leicester ‘s 2-0 win, but has trained without issues and will be in the matchday squad for Luton’ s visit.
“Olivier is appropriate,” Lampard said. “He trained with us today and it’s great for the weekend.”
The meeting with Luton is crucial because of Chelsea’s poor form.
They beat Fox at their fifth loss in the last eight Premier League games, raising questions for Lampard about his own future.
“I don’t listen to it. It’s just everywhere if you want to move through social media or something, but I won’t do that,” Lampard told reporters after asking to me whether he is aware of profiteering about his own future. “I’m not stupid, I know the pressures that come with running a major football club, but I’m just doing my job, it doesn’t matter to me.”
While he says he’s not bothered by profiteering, the only way to stop is if he turns their form.
With the FA Cup clash with Luton and Premier League games against Wolves and Burnley, all at home, over a seven – day period, that could be a special week for the Blues leader.