Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior has assured fans over concerns towards Cole Palmer and Reece James’s fitness after the pair missed the new boss’s first game in charge on Saturday.
Having watched Wednesday night’s Premier League defeat to Fulham from the stands at Craven Cottage, Rosenior was in the dugout for the trip to Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup on Saturday—the Blues eventually enjoyed a statement 5–1 win to advance.
Rosenior named a rotated side in the cup, with starts for Jamie Gittens, Marc Guiu, Alejandro Garncho, Facundo Buonanotte, Andrey Santos, Jorrel Hato, Josh Acheampong and Filip Jörgensen. But there was notably no Palmer, James or indeed Malo Gusto, anywhere in the matchday squad.
“Malo, Cole and Reece were precautionary today,” Rosenior explained after the win.
“I don’t want to take any risks at this stage of the season. They had minor tweaks or knocks from the Fulham game. And I feel like I’ve got such a good squad here. I don’t need to risk their health at the moment,” the former Strasbourg manager added.
When Will Palmer, James Return for Chelsea?
Rosenior implied that keeping the influential pair out of the Charlton game, which should always have been a comfortable win for Chelsea against a Championship club, was to improve their chances of availability for the next fixture in the Carabao Cup against Arsenal.
The semi-final first leg on Wednesday is an opportunity to get one foot in the first major final of the season. Then, it’s Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday.
The Bees are fifth in the current table, two points ahead of Chelsea in eighth, after taking 14 from the last 18 on offer to them. That makes it really important for Rosenior’s side in their quest for a top four place come the end of the season.
“We have a huge game on Wednesday, we have a huge game on Saturday,” Rosenior pointed out.
“I’ll check the medical reports to see how they are.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Liam Rosenior Addresses Cole Palmer, Reece James Fitness Concerns Ater Charlton Absences.
