Derby boss Frank Lampard will make his eagerly awaited return to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening as his Derby side taken on Chelsea in the EFL Cup. 

The Rams are currently occupying a play-off spot in the Championship and come into their clash against Chelsea in a good run of form that sees Lampard's side unbeaten in their last five league matches.

Lampard's former Chelsea team mate Gianfranco Zola was full of praise for the Derby boss for his achievements whilst at the Blues.

'I’ve never thought of anything like that but if you see the results and trophies that Frank achieved at Chelsea then there’s no doubt he is the bigger legend,' Zola admitted in an interview ahead of the game with Chelsea's official website.

'I remember he used to spend a lot of time after training taking shots and free-kicks, working on the areas where he needed to work and that paid off, so I saw straight away the guy was going to become important.'

Another talking point ahead of the game has been Chelsea's decision to allow Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori to play against their parent club in tonights game.

Zola revealed that they made the decision so that the youngsters could gain experience playing against Premier League players whilst out on loan with the Rams.

'It’s because we believe at the end of the day what’s important for us is that Mason and Tomori grow up as players.

'We believe playing against us is an opportunity for them to grow up quicker because the more they play against Premier League teams the more experience they can get, and the better the evaluation we can make on them.

'It was a great opportunity to see them play in front of us and we took it.'

The Verdict: 

Chelsea's decision to let Mount and Tomori play against them for Derby certainly came as a surprising move.

It will be an interesting reaction if one of the pair are to score against the Blues, as I'm sure there will be a number of Chelsea fans that would applaud the pair.

But looking at it from Chelsea's view, they will get to see first hand, exactly how their on-loan youngsters are performing for Lampard's side.