Enzo Maresca has revealed that Chelsea are taking it “day by day” to “protect” and manage Cole Palmer after a troublesome groin injury flared up against Manchester United.
Having returned from an earlier groin layoff as a substitute against Brentford and then started against Bayern Munich, Palmer passed a late fitness test ahead of the game at Old Trafford—but even then, he wasn’t considered 100 per cent.
As it happened, with Chelsea reduced to 10 players early on when goalkeeper Robert Sánchez was sent off, Maresca soon opted to replace Palmer once he felt discomfort.
The Blues boss isn’t able to put an exact timeframe on when Palmer might return, although he considers surgery unlikely as it hadn’t been mentioned to him by the medical team.
“We need to protect Cole for sure, 100%. Not only Cole in my personal view because as I said now because of the Club World Cup or because we never stop, we need to manage and protect different players,” Maresca explained, also referencing Moisés Caicedo and João Pedro.
“The solution with Cole, I don’t know, now we have a meeting with the medical staff and we decide the best solution for him,” he added.
“But it’s also a kind of injury that is not like black and white. It’s an injury that someday you can be better. It’s not that you have pain and tomorrow disappear. Sometimes you can be better, sometimes you can be worse. That’s why we need to manage day by day.”
Ironically, Chelsea have only won this season when Palmer hasn’t played, beating West Ham United and Fulham when the England star was ruled out. In the games that he has featured, the Blues have failed to beat Crystal Palace, Brentford, Bayern Munich and Manchester United.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘We Need to Protect Cole’—Enzo Maresca Provides Latest Palmer Injury Update.