Cole Palmer injury update revealed as Chelsea hit by new double blow | OneFootball

Blues have new plan to try and manage struggling England star’s lingering groin issue

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The Chelsea star missed matches against West Ham and Fulham last month as a result of the injury, as well as England’s most recent pair of World Cup qualifiers.

Maresca, who left Palmer out of his squad entirely for the Carabao Cup third-round win over Lincoln on Tuesday, and his coaching staff met with the club’s medical team this week to discuss the best course of action to manage Palmer’s injury, which he suffered during Chelsea’s shortened pre-season following the Club World Cup.

Speaking at his latest press conference on Friday, Maresca said that Palmer would be rested by Chelsea ahead of the next international break, ruling him out of home Premier League matches against Brighton and Liverpool in addition to the visit of Jose Mourinho’s Benfica to Stamford Bridge in the Champions League on Tuesday.

"We decided to protect a little bit Cole in terms of it not getting worse, the injury,” Maresca said. “We decided to rest him for the next two or three weeks until the international break.

“We’ll see with that rest whether he can be 100 per cent fit after the international break. I don’t think he needs surgery, it’s just a matter to manage his pain in his groin. With this amount of games, these things can happen.”

New blow: Tosin Adarabioyo has joined Chelsea’s list of absentees with a calf injury

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In a further blow to Chelsea, Maresca revealed that centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo would also miss the next three matches with a calf injury.

Wesley Fofana suffered a concussion during the win at Lincoln, leaving a centre-back shortage with Levi Colwill expected to miss most of the season following surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament and Benoit Badiashile having yet to play this term due to injury.

“We have a Tosin injury,” Maresca said. “He will probably be out until the international break. He has a small injury in his calf. Wesley Fofana had concussion the other day against Lincoln. The rest are all OK.”

Injury-hit Chelsea are already without Liam Delap and Dario Essugo due to long-term problems, while Romeo Lavia has also yet to play this season.

Loanee Facundo Buonanotte cannot face parent club Brighton this weekend, while Joshua Acheampong and Marc Guiu were both absent again Lincoln due to illness and injury respectively.

Mykhailo Mudryk also remains unavailable for selection, though goalkeeper Robert Sanchez is free to line up against his former team on Saturday after serving a one-match suspension in midweek following his early red card against Manchester United.

On coping without Palmer, Maresca said: “We said that with Cole we are a better team, but we are not going to play with 10 players.

“We are going to find a different solution. Ty [Tyrique George] is helping us at No9, knowing that he is a winger and not a No9. We’ll see.”