**Willy Caballero defended the decision to take off Cole Palmer during Chelsea’s 2-2 draw at home to Bournemouth.**
It was another frustrating game for the home fans at Stamford Bridge and they reacted angrily to head coach Enzo Maresca withdrawing England star Palmer – who recently returned after an injury lay-off – during the second half.
Chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” were aimed at Maresca, who is no stranger to being the focus of discontent.
He did not attend the post-match press conference, which coach Caballero attended instead and explained that Maresca was ill.
Asked about the fans’ reaction to Palmer’s substitution, Caballero said: “Of course any supporter wants to have their best players on the pitch and we want to have the best players on the pitch.
“But Cole is coming from a long injury, so we need to find the right substitutions to go for the game and also to take care of the health of our players because we want to have them for the rest of the season in every single game.”
On Maresca’s absence, Caballero said: “He didn’t feel well the last two days.
“He had a bit of a temperature two days ago. He did the last two (training) sessions and he wanted to prepare the team.
“But after the game he went to the changing room and asked me to replace him because he didn’t feel well.”
Chelsea have now won just one of their past seven league matches and have dropped to fifth in the table.
They are away to title-chasing Manchester City on Sunday.
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