An injury expert - speaking exclusive to Sports Mole - has claimed that he 'would not rule out' Cole Palmer from returning for Chelsea against Arsenal on Sunday.
Chelsea showed on Tuesday night that their over-reliance on Palmer is subsiding as they recorded a dominant 3-0 victory over Barcelona in the Champions League.
Nevertheless, the eventual return of the 23-year-old is highly-anticipated with his last outing coming all the way back on September 20.
Palmer was initially dealing with a lingering groin issue before he fractured the small toe on his left toe in an accident at home last week.
Despite that latest fitness blow and missing the Barcelona game, Palmer is training with Enzo Maresca's first-team squad ahead of the top-of-the-table Premier League clash with the Gunners.
Injury expert weighs up pros, cons, of early Palmer return
Ben Dinnery, the founder of website Premier Injuries, has exclusively explained to Sports Mole the pros and cons that will need to be considered when assessing Palmer ahead of the weekend.
He said: "If you look historically, you know, a lot of it will come from pain management and protecting the player and we have seen him back on the training pitches and we have seen him involved in aspects with the group.
"The issue is with Cole Palmer, it's not just that toe, but we've also had this ongoing groin problem that's kept him on the sidelines now for several weeks. So, there's an element there of, you know, these injuries came about.
"Yes, you've got the pain aspect of it, but then also you've got this lack of match fitness and sharpness just because he hasn't been able to train fully with the group.
"Is it something that could be sort of patched up and protected and maybe with a pain-killing injection? Yes, and that will be done in consultation. You know, that could be player-led with the backroom staff and doctors and again ensuring that they have a duty of care to protect the player again in the short and medium and the long term.
"He's still a very young player, but also you have the remainder in the second half of the season and, you know, a World Cup that you would think Cole Palmer would be a part of the England squad.
"So, I certainly wouldn't rule him out of being involved in the matchday squad. Like I say, it's always a positive sign when you see a player back with the group on the training pitches, but there are steps, you know, and boxes to tick along the way.
"Those are activity-based and what you need to ensure is that you're coming through those sessions as you gradually increase the intensity and the dynamic nature of your workload around, you know, making sure that you're not having any kind of reaction and that pain is manageable."
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Should Chelsea risk Palmer?
As long as Palmer is training with the first team, there will be hope of the England international featuring on the substitutes' bench against Arsenal.
However, Maresca would be best-advised seeing the long-term picture and not risking him until the early weeks of December.
Chelsea play eight games in three different competitions and Palmer's presence for those matches would be a far bigger boost than risking a second-half outing against the top-flight leaders.
Ben Dinnery was speaking to Sports Mole on behalf of Video Gamer