The Blues host Brentford on Saturday in Liam Rosenior’s first Premier League game as head coach.
The self-assured Chelsea boss has had a mixed start to his tenure, beating Charlton Athletic 5-1 in the FA Cup before a 3-2 loss to Arsenal in the first leg of the League Cup semi-finals.
Chelsea fans will expect a victory against London opposition as the Blues look to leapfrog Brentford and reignite their charge for a top four finish. But will Cole Palmer be available?
Cole Palmer injury latest ahead of Chelsea v Brentford
Rosenior confirmed Palmer has a thigh strain and was not fit enough to feature in the midweek defeat against Arsenal.
The No.10 was not included in the squad for that match, but he could be in contention for Saturday’s game.
“This game came too early for him, hopefully he’ll be able to train on Friday,” Rosenior said in his post-match press conference on Wednesday.
“He has a minor strain in his thigh. If you play someone with a minor strain in January, it can be six weeks. I can’t afford to lose Cole Palmer for six weeks."
It remains to be seen, then, if Chelsea will risk Palmer against Brentford, with Pafos to come in the Champions League on Wednesday before a trip to Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
Rosenior has made clear his excitement at the prospect of utilising Palmer when the England international returns to fitness.
“I think Cole is a special talent, like Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Pedro Neto and Estevao [Willian] are special talents,” said Rosenior. “My job is to get to know him, to connect with him and to understand what gets the best out of him.
“That takes time. I'm just super excited to work with him. The scary thing with Cole is that he's already got world-class ability, but he's just 23 years old.
“He's got so much more and there were moments of genius against Fulham; when he stepped over the ball to put Liam [Delap] in on goal, there was also a pass to Pedro (Neto) which was ridiculous. I can't wait to work with him on a regular basis.”
On Palmer’s injury status, Rosenior added: “I had a really good in-depth conversation with Cole [on Monday], I've had a good in-depth conversation with the medical team, and we're at a stage of the season where we've got another eight games in four weeks, so it'd be crazy for me to risk any player in this phase of the season.”
