Chelsea's defeat at Manchester United was overshadowed by an injury concern for Cole Palmer, who was substituted after just 20 minutes at Old Trafford. The playmaker, who had recently returned from a lay-off and scored in consecutive matches, was seen applying an ice pack to his groin after heading down the tunnel.
Enzo Maresca revealed that Palmer had undergone a fitness test on the morning of the game and was not fully fit, but the player pushed to feature. "He did this morning a test, he wanted to play this game for the team, to be close, so the effort has been huge from him, but then after 20 minutes he started to feel something, so we decided to change him," the Chelsea boss said.
The Italian made Premier League history by making three substitutions within the opening 20 minutes, including two forced by Robert Sanchez's red card. Wesley Fofana also requested to come off in the second half, though Maresca attributed that to fatigue rather than injury.
In wider team news, Benoit Badiashile and Romeo Lavia have returned to training and are edging closer to availability, though Maresca does not expect them back until after the international break. Liam Delap is facing up to 12 weeks out with a hamstring injury suffered against Fulham, while Dario Essugo is recovering from thigh surgery and Levi Colwill is expected to miss most of the season with an ACL problem.
There is no confirmed return date for Palmer, with the club likely to assess him further before the next fixture. Chelsea will hope to bounce back from their first league defeat of the campaign when they host Brighton on 27 September.
