Lamps: Subs row a risk to players

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FRANK LAMPARD says self interest is being put in front of player safety and has given up on ever having five substitutes in the Premier League.

Clubs voted for a third time to go against the rest of Europe’s big leagues and stick with just three subs for top-flight games.

And while the Chelsea manager understands why that makes sense to smaller clubs with smaller squads, he is concerned that league position is seen as more important than avoiding dangerous injury.

“When we spoke about it with the managers, the overriding factor – whether they were for or against – was that this was a case of player welfare and not putting them at risk,” Lampard (top) said ahead of West Ham’s visit to Stamford Bridge on Monday. “However, some clubs decided it was in their better interests not to have the subs. That overrode what we felt.

“We work day to day with the players and you can see the strains of the schedule as it is. And it carries on – this period for us is very busy. But it’s a difficult one to talk about because people think you’re whining too much. I just thought it was something that would help player welfare and it hasn’t got through.”

David Moyes believes bargain Vladimir Coufal is only getting better in a West Ham shirt. The Czech Republic right-back (left) has shone since joining from Slavia Prague for only £5million in October. Coufal, 28, set up Sebastien Haller’s leveller against Crystal Palace and boss Moyes said: “Vladimir was our best player against Palace. He knew he’d have a really tough job up against Wilfried Zaha and I thought he did it well.”