Frank Lampard is likely to miss tomorrow's Champions League semi-final, second leg against Liverpool, despite returning to training after the death of his mother. The vice-captain's absence would be a blow to Chelsea and prevent Avram Grant from fielding his strongest team, but no attempt will be made to coax him into an early return, with the player's welfare the most important issue for the club.

Lampard had signalled a determination to make himself available by reporting for training on his own on Sunday, but he did not complete a full session yesterday and remains fragile. The 29-year-old's mother, Pat, died from pneumonia last week and there are doubts as to whether he is ready for an emotional return at Stamford Bridge, particularly in such an important match. A decision will be made after training today, but unless Lampard improves considerably he is unlikely to return to action before the funeral on Friday.

While their thoughts remain with Lampard, the rest of Chelsea's players are on a high after Saturday's dramatic 2-1 win over Manchester United in the Barclays Premier League. Petr Cech provided some indication of his team-mates' confidence by describing the huge lift they received from John Arne Riise's stoppage-time own goal in last week's 1-1 draw at Anfield.

“At 1-0 to them, the whole stadium was rocking,” Cech said. “They were buzzing and singing. And then, all of a sudden - silence. If someone had dropped their keys, you'd have heard them hit the floor. All the crowd went quiet because they thought they'd already got the victory and they were counting the seconds to the end. They just didn't expect it to happen.

“Yes, it was lucky. It was an own goal, in the last seconds. But I think you can put it down to the fact that we kept going and, if you don't do that, you can't get the luck. To score like that was a real bonus and we realised everything had changed when the ball went in. Now we know we don't have to win at Stamford Bridge; a clean sheet will get us through.”

Cech is also adamant that Chelsea can take advantage of any further slip-ups by United in the title race. “We know, from what happened against Wigan, that you can get punished in the very last minute, as well as score then,” the Czech Republic goalkeeper said. “Now we've beaten United, the pressure is on them. Who knows what will happen? They only need to draw one of their last two games and we can overtake them.”