Cole Palmer is likely to miss out again through injury when Chelsea take on Brentford on Saturday.
The England international has missed Chelsea’s last two games having not featured since the opening weekend of the Premier League season against Crystal Palace.
He sat out out of wins over West Ham United and Fulham, also missing England’s victories over Andorra and Serbia during the international break.
Shortly before the West Ham game in August, Palmer was forced to pull out of the starting XI in east London with Maresca later explaining the club were assessing a groin issue ‘day by day’.
Some eagle-eyed Chelsea fans were convinced they spotted their talisman back in training this week.
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But speaking ahead of Saturday evening’s trip to the Gtech Stadium, Maresca confirmed the player is still a major doubt.
Palmer will be given the opportunity to prove his fitness in a final training session this afternoon but the Chelsea boss insists no risks will be taken.
‘Cole took part in the session yesterday for the first time, not the entire session,’ Maresca said.
‘We have one more session this afternoon and we are going to try with him to see if he’s okay, otherwise he will be out tomorrow.
‘He is recovering from an injury, it’s not managing him, it’s recovering from an injury. When he is available, we need to manage him because of the amount of games.’
Chelsea have lost three players to injury with Liam Delap ruled out until November with a hamstring injury while Dario Essugo will miss the rest of 2025 after undergoing thigh surgery. Levi Colwill meanwhile is unlikely to play again this season after an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
