Cole Palmer is fighting to be fit to feature in Chelsea’s tricky trip to Bournemouth, live on talkSPORT, tonight.
The 22-year-old has been contending with muscle fatigue that saw him withdraw from England’s Nations League fixtures.
He limped out of Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Servette in their Europa Conference League play-off first leg last month with hamstring discomfort.
Although that injury didn’t lead to any spell on the sidelines, the Blues still saw fit to leave him out of their squad for the league phase of the competition to manage his workload.
Palmer then became one of three players to withdraw from Lee Carsley’s first England squad for the double-header against the Republic of Ireland and Finland.
The PFA Young Player of the Year had reported to St George’s Park last week but was sent back to Cobham after an assessment.
Chelsea fans will now be hoping the rest afforded to their talisman over the break will be enough to see him involved this evening.
Is Palmer fit to face Bournemouth?
The playmaker is set to be available for the visit to the south coast following his recuperation over the international break.
Palmer returned to training on Monday alongside the other Chelsea players who didn’t represent their countries this past week.
He was joined by Wesley Fofana, who pulled out of the France squad through injury, and new Blues teammate Jadon Sancho.
Palmer was involved again on Tuesday and looked unaffected as he completed running and passing drills in front of Enzo Maresca.
This means he will feature against Bournemouth, live on talkSPORT.
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His involvement will come as a huge boost to Chelsea, with Palmer registering four assists and a goal in the Premier League so far.
All but one of those goal contributions came in the club’s only away game this season, having shone in the 6-2 victory over Wolves.
That remains Chelsea’s only Premier League victory, yet despite that, Palmer is leading the division’s assists charts.
Palmer will now look to replicate that Molineux haul with the Blues’ second trip on the road against unbeaten Bournemouth.
The Cherries are one point and three places above Maresca’s men in the table following their dramatic 3-2 comeback win over Everton.
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