Cole Palmer suffers freak injury to miss crunch Chelsea matches against Barcelona and Arsenal | OneFootball

Cole Palmer suffered a freak injury after an accident at home to extend his Chelsea absence beyond crunch clashes against Barcelona and Arsenal next week.

The Chelsea forward was due to return after a two-month absence due to a groin injury, having resumed first-team training.

But Blues boss Enzo Maresca has confirmed a fresh blow, with Palmer not only due to miss this weekend’s match against Burnley, but also Tuesday’s blockbuster Champions League clash with Barcelona and the London derby against Arsenal next weekend.

“He is probably not available for tomorrow for sure, Barcelona for sure or Arsenal for sure,” said Maresca.

“Unfortunately, he had an accident at home where he hit his toe but it is nothing important – but he won’t be back in the next week.”

Maresca tried to laugh off the incident but it is a big blow for the Blues with a huge week coming up.

“It’s nothing important, but for sure he’s not back next week,” added the Italian.

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Enzo Maresca (left) will be without Cole Palmer for some big games (Nick Potts/PA)

“It’s fractured. The only thing we know is that he’s not available for this week, next week.

“It can happen, it can happen. I wake up many times during the night to go to the toilet, and I hit my head, my leg, my everything, so it can happen.

“He was back with us, almost, with the groin. Then again, he had this small problem and hopefully it’s nothing important.

“The last time I saw him was yesterday morning and he was without socks, without flip-flops.

“He was limping, not too much, he was walking OK. The problem is that it’s a small toe, so the contact with the boots can be a bit painful.”

Defender Axel Disasi, part of Chelsea’s so-called ‘bomb squad’ with fellow exile Raheem Sterling, has been training with the first team over the international break.

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Axel Disasi is not back in Enzo Maresca’s first-team plans at Chelsea (Mike Egerton/PA)

But Maresca has ruled out the prospect of reintegrating the Frenchman into the first-team squad.

“Axel is helping the second team, he’s helping young players,” said Maresca.

“During the international break we had just five, six players here, so we needed some second-team players, and Axel was part of some sessions with second-team players, but I think it was just one session.

“At the moment he’s helping the second team, he’s working with the second team, and he’s there with the second team.

“He’s a Chelsea player and he’s with the second team. Raheem, again, he’s a Chelsea player and he’s in the same situation.”