Rosenior had revealed prior to kick-off against Pafos that Palmer was nursing a “little bit of tightness in his thigh”. The Blues’ head coach went on to say, with the expectation being that Chelsea will have their No.10 back for a trip to Crystal Palace on Sunday: “It was precautionary.
“He felt something really minor in the game against Brentford. It was quite early on so credit to him for playing through it. I don’t want to risk any players at this stage, especially players of his quality. He’s got a really good chance to be involved and start the game on Sunday, and we will keep preparing him for that.”
While fears have been calmed when it comes to Palmer’s fitness, similar questions have been hanging over club captain Reece James and goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen. Neither managed to finish the continental clash with Pafos.
Both were replaced at half-time, with Rosenior being forced to shuffle his pack. First-choice shot-stopper Robert Sanchez and exciting Brazilian wonderkid Estevao were introduced off the bench - with Chelsea going on to claim a 1-0 victory courtesy of Moises Caicedo’s 78th-minute goal.
Rosenior said of Jorgensen, with it not immediately clear what his fitness issue is: “Unfortunately Filip picked something up. I’m devastated for him because he’s really impressed me, not just the game at Charlton but how he’s trained. Hopefully Filip can get better really quickly.”
Chelsea’s new manager went on to say of his skipper, with any injury concerns around James being eased: “We are playing Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, so we want to make sure Reece is available as much as possible because he’s an outstanding player and a leader in our group.”
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