COLE PALMER is still dogged by groin pain — sparking fears for Chelsea and England.
The Blues’ No 10 has only just come back from 11 weeks on the sidelines due to injury.
He returned as a second-half sub in a defeat at Leeds on December 3 and then started last Saturday’s draw at Bournemouth.
Boss Enzo Maresca, whose side host Everton on Saturday, revealed: “After Leeds he was completely bad the day after — and he played half an hour.
“After Bournemouth, he was OK. He played for one hour. There’s not any sense to it.”
Prior to his comeback, Palmer last played in a 2-1 defeat at Manchester United on September 20, when he came off after just 21 minutes with a groin issue.
His return was delayed when he broke a toe by stubbing it on a door at home.
Maresca said: “He finished the session on Thursday with a mixed feeling.
“Overall he was fine but still a little bit painful. You can see if he’s getting better, then some days it’s worse.”
Maresca confirmed Palmer was part of the group of Blues stars, which also includes Wesley Fofana, Enzo Fernandez and Joao Pedro, who were finding it tough to play multiple games per week at the moment.
The Italian was able to offer no more than “hopefully not” when asked if the club would have to manage Palmer’s groin issue for the rest of the season.
But he insisted: “No one mentioned anything about surgery.”
Palmer’s inability to play two games in a week could hurt his bid to make Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad next summer.
He has missed the past seven matches under England boss Tuchel. And Morgan Rogers, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham are all fit, in form and appear to be ahead of Palmer in the pecking order as a playmaker for the tournament in North America.
Chelsea are on a four-game winless run since beating Barcelona in the Champions League and need Palmer — or someone — to put them back on track.
But Maresca is resisting the negative narrative among some Blues fans, saying: “I don’t think we need to change things. The team is doing well.”
