Enzo Maresca says Cole Palmer’s determination to help Chelsea qualify for the Champions League resulted in the England international asking to play against Leicester City despite struggling with illness.
Palmer started against the Foxes this afternoon at Stamford Bridge and played 73 minutes of our 1-0 victory before being replaced by [Tyrique George](/en/teams/profile/tyrique-george).
It wasn't the 22-year-old's most dominant performance in blue – and he was unfortunate to see his flawless record from the penalty spot end following a superb first-half save by Mads Hermansen.
However, Maresca revealed after our win that Palmer, while not 100 per cent, had pushed to play to help the Blues in our quest to finish in the Champions League places.
The Chelsea head coach explained: 'Cole yesterday didn’t train. During the night, he didn’t feel well and he didn’t train yesterday because he didn’t feel well.
‘But this morning he woke up and asked me to be on the pitch because he wants to help this club play in the Champions League
'But in the last two days, he was completely out; he didn’t train because of fever and this bad feeling. But this morning he asked to play the game and it shows how these players want to bring the club to where this club belongs.’