“Hopefully” – Liam Rosenior provides Reece James update and reveals game he could return for | OneFootball

Liam Rosenior has revealed Reece James has a knock and his absence against Wolves was a “pain management” issue.

Chelsea made it four wins in a row in the league as they ran out 3-1 winners at Molineux against the league’s bottom club.

Cole Palmer returned to form with a first half hat-trick, as Chelsea remain just a point behind fourth placed Manchester United.

Liam Rosenior on Reece James absence

Rosenior made a number of changes to the side which lost against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup, but once again there was no James.

James was reportedly rested against Arsenal, although other reports have suggested he failed a late fitness test before the game.

James has missed the last two games. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

The Blues were able to record a comfortable win without their captain, and Rosenior provided an update on James after the game.

“He’s really, really close,” he told his post-match press conference.

“There’s not a major problem at all, and it’d be great to have him available for Leeds on Tuesday.

“It’s just a knock. It’s a pain management issue, and to be honest, Reece was out running yesterday, but just wasn’t right, and it’s not right.

“Again, we’re still in the midst of a really, really difficult period of games for demo games that we’ve got.

“Hopefully, he comes back fully, fit, and fully rested for Tuesday.”

Cole Palmer returns to form

Whilst James is close to a return, Palmer put in his best performance since returning from injury against Leeds in December.

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The 23-year-old looked back to his best with his first half hat-trick at Molineux, and both he and Chelsea will hope he can maintain this form.

Palmer also broke two records on Saturday afternoon as he became the first player in Premier League history to score three first half hat-tricks, and he became the first Chelsea player to score four Premier League hat-tricks.