Juan Mata has said that injury is the reason he has been used sparsely in the opening weeks of the new season, the Metro understands.

The Spain international, who has been named the Blues Player of the Year in both of his seasons with the club so far, was strongly linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge this summer.

Of Chelsea’s four games this season, the 25 year old has played just 65 minutes, all of which came in the 2-1 victory over Aston Villa last month.

Meanwhile, the Metro have also reported that Samuel Eto’o has given his new employers a boost, after calling time on his international career.

The 32 year old cited ‘family reasons’ as the reason for making the decision, though he reportedly rowed with Coach Volker Finke recently, regarding team selection.

The four time African Footballer of the Year made 114 appearances for Cameroon, scoring 56 goals, and appeared in the 1998, 2002 and 2010 World Cup finals.

Finally, Frank Lampard is set to become the second Blues player this year to have reached 100 England caps in tomorrow evening’s World Cup Qualifier against Ukraine.

Ashley Cole reached the milestone in the friendly win against Brazil back in February.