Enzo Maresca has revealed that Cole Palmer is still playing through pain due to his groin injury ahead of Chelsea’s Premier League match against Everton.
Palmer has missed over 10 weeks after he was forced off in the defeat against Manchester United in September due to a groin problem.
The 23-year-old then fractured his toe in a freak accident at his home last month, which delayed his return.
Palmer was rested for Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat to Atalanta in the Champions League this week, and speaking ahead of his side’s Premier League game at home to Everton on Saturday, Maresca admitted the club need to be cautious over the midfielder’s groin issue.
‘With Cole, it’s just a matter of the more players you have that are good, the team is better,’ said Maresca.
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‘In terms of the mixed feeling, he had a session with us, overall he was fine, but still it was a little bit painful.
‘He was feeling some pain in his groin. It’s something we need to monitor. Hopefully it won’t be for the full season, but it’s something that is a little bit day-by-day. You can see it is getting better and then some days it can be worse.
‘For instance, after Leeds it was completely bad the day after and he played half an hour. After Bournemouth it was okay and he played one hour. So there is not any sense to it, but it is the day-by-day that decides how he feels.
‘At the moment, absolutely he is in that group that can’t start every game.’
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