Hudson-Odoi given first Prem start since April as Pulisic left on Chelsea bench again at Southampton

CALLUM HUDSON-ODOI was handed his first Premier League start since April on Sunday.

Frank Lampard decided to give the winger only his second start of the season, meaning there was again no place for Christian Pulisic.

An injury to his Achilles tendon ruled out Hudson-Odoi for over five months.

He missed the Europa League final and pre-season after picking up the blow in the game against Burnley on April 22.

Chelsea have been intent on reintroducing him gradually with a goalscoring runout in the Carabao Cup trouncing of Grimsby counting as his comeback.

And Wednesday night’s win over Lille saw the young winger make a cameo off the bench, setting up Willian’s decisive goal.

The Brazilian started on the opposite flank to Hudson-Odoi with Tammy Abraham leading the line as expected.

Stuck on the bench was Pulisic and the American hasn’t appeared in the league since August.

Lampard sought to play his decision down when speaking to Sky before the game, explaining that Pulisic’s youth should demand patience after he was pipped by the 18-year-old Hudson-Odoi.

The manager said: “He’s just turned 21, so if anyone is getting too excited they should calm down, frankly, because he has already started five games for us.

“What he needs to do is work daily and work to show within the group that he deserves to play, as all the players do.”

Mateo Kovacic and Ross Barkley were also benched as Lampard continued with the midfield trio of Mason Mount, N’Golo Kante and Jorginho.

Southampton gave a start to Shane Long for the Sunday 2pm kick-off.

Dropping out was Jannik Vestegaard as Ralph Hasenhuttl appeared to revert to a back-four after the loss to Tottenham, Yan Valery returning at right-back.