Frank Lampard reacts to Kovacic, Abraham substitutions

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has stressed that the Blues' 2-2 draw against Sheffield United was not influenced by the late substitutions of Tammy Abraham and Mateo Kovacic.

Abraham scored a brace for the second game running to provide the Blues with a 2-0 at the break. However, the advantage was halved with Callum Robinson scoring for the Blades shortly after the interval.

Thereafter, Lampard's side appeared on course to secure a hard-fought win but they ended up conceding through a Kurt Zouma own goal in the 89th minute to settle for a share of the spoils.

A few minutes prior to the leveller, both Kovacic and Abraham were replaced by Billy Gilmour and Michy Batshuayi respectively, and Lampard has now revealed the reason behind the substitution.

In an interview covered by BBC Sport, Lampard said that Kovacic was blatantly tired and he had no option but to opt for the change. Meanwhile, the former Chelsea midfielder told that Batshuayi was introduced to provide more energy on the field.

"It wasn't bold, because it was one-for one. Kova was blatantly tired. Michy was to try and bring energy for Tammy. Other people can make what they want of that," he quipped.