He will be out - Maresca provides injury update on Cole Palmer ahead of Brentford clash

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca says a late decision will be made on whether Cole Palmer is fit enough to feature against Brentford on Saturday.

The 23-year-old missed the Blues’ last two Premier League wins against West Ham and Fulham after sustaining an injury in the warm-up at the London Stadium.

Palmer was not called up for England duty during the international break, instead remaining at Cobham for recovery work.

Maresca revealed that while Palmer has made progress, his availability will depend on how he responds in Chelsea’s final training session this afternoon.

“Cole took part in a session yesterday for the first time but not the entire session,” Maresca told reporters.

He continued, “Today in the afternoon, we have one more session, and we are going to try with him and see if he is ok. Otherwise, he will be out tomorrow again.

“He had an injury, but he has recovered from the injury. So it wasn't about managing him; it was him recovering. From the moment he is available, we have to think about how to manage him a little bit because of the amount of games we have coming.”

While Palmer could return, Maresca confirmed that striker Liam Delap will face a lengthy spell on the sidelines after sustaining a hamstring injury in the 2-0 victory over Fulham.

“Liam is around 10-12 weeks, so a long way to go,” Maresca said.

The 22-year-old had to be substituted in the 14th minute of the match after pulling up while chasing down a pass.

The Italian tactician also cast doubt over the involvement of several players returning from international duty.

Chelsea’s Brazilian contingent only rejoined the squad on Thursday and undertook recovery work, while Moisés Caicedo, who represented Colombia in high altitude against Bolivia, arrived late on Thursday night.

“For all of them, it’s a question mark for tomorrow. When they play in Bolivia, it’s so difficult to be back [at full fitness] very soon,” he said.

Chelsea travel to the Gtech Community Stadium looking to extend their unbeaten run and keep pace with the Premier League’s top four.