Chelsea have confirmed loanees Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori will be allowed to play for Derby County in their Carabao Cup fourth round tie.
Derby beat Premier League side Manchester United in the third round at Old Trafford, setting up a tie with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge – with the Blues having overcome Liverpool.
The biggest story of the draw was centred around Derby manager Frank Lampard returning to face the club with whom he spent 13 years as player, and is still the all-time top scorer.
But a side plot was whether Mount and Tomori, who are currently on loan at Derby from Chelsea, would be available to face their parent club in the fourth round.
Both Mount and Tomori have been in fine form for the Championship side, with the former recently earning his first call up to the senior England team – though he was an unused substitute for the games against Croatia and Spain.
And now, both Chelsea and Derby have confirmed Mount and Tomori will be able to play when the Rams travel to London on October 31.
“Unlike in the Premier League, EFL Cup rules allow for clubs in the competition to make such agreements for players to appear against their parent clubs,” Chelsea said in a statement on their website.
“Mount and Tomori have been regulars for the Rams under Frank Lampard this season, and, after beating Manchester United at Old Trafford in the previous round, we believe the experience of facing top-level opposition once more will be of benefit to their on-going development at Derby.”
Speaking after the announcement, Derby manager Lampard thanked Chelsea for the opportunity to play Mount and Tomori.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Chelsea, their director Marina Granovskaia and manager Maurizio Sarri for allowing Mason and Fikayo to be available for selection for the Carabao Cup tie,” he told Derby’s official website.
“We’ve been in dialogue with Chelsea since the draw was made and it’s great, first and foremost, that the players will have the opportunity to test themselves against a top side.”
Derby assistant manager Jody Morris, who also has links with Chelsea, playing for the club and managing in their academy, also expressed his happiness with a simple tweet.
— Jody Morris (@morriskid) October 22, 2018
Lampard’s start to managerial life
Taking charge of Derby during the summer, Lampard is enjoyed his first foray into life as a manager.
The former Chelsea and England midfielder has overseen 16 matches in charge of the Rams so far, winning nine, drawing three and losing four.
Derby are currently fifth in the Championship after 13 games, a respectable start for Lampard who will be hoping to get his side back into the Premier League after years of near misses with the play-offs.
The post Chelsea allow Derby loanees Mount and Tomori to play in Carabao Cup fourth round clash appeared first on Squawka News.
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