Maresca’s Cole Palmer answer has clue to attacker’s status tomorrow night | OneFootball

After more than a week off, Chelsea are finally back in action tomorrow evening, with the Blues taking on FC Copenhagen in Denmark.

Enzo Maresca was asked in his press conference about some of the injured players who might or might not have recovered in time for tomorrow’s game, but he also gave an answer about Cole Palmer, who was added to the Conference League squad for the knockout stages.

Asked if he would start, Maresca gave this answer:

“Since we started, all the decisions we took are all trying to protect players,” the coach said.

“With Cole and Wes [Fofana], Romeo [Lavia] exactly the same. Now we have Premier League games and Conference League games that are all important. We can change players in the squad, so we decided to add some, for instance we added Cole for the final part of the season. For sure, if he is in the squad, he can play minutes, no doubt.

Asked if Palmer was “excited” to make his debut in Europe’s third tier competition, Maresca had a little joke on hand:

“Yeah [he is], but Cole is excited to play training sessions, so for sure, he is excited to play these games.”

Palmer still likely to be in cotton wool for first game

Cole Palmer on his haunches after another game without a goal or assist. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)

The key words here are at the end where Maresca says his attacker “can play minutes.” That strongly indicates to us that he won’t be starting the game, and likely will be used very sparingly, if at all.

If the guys who start the game can get the job done and pick up a 2 or 3 goal lead, we’d imagine Palmer will keep his feet up and get extra rested for Sunday’s game.