Chelsea‘s Maresca Provides Injury Update Ahead of Lincoln City Clash
LINCOLN, UK – Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca confirmed Cole Palmer is undergoing assessment for a potential injury ahead of Wednesday’s Carabao Cup third-round match against Lincoln City. However, Benoit Badiashile and Romeo Lavia remain unavailable for the trip to the LNER Stadium.
The update comes following a narrow 2-1 defeat to Manchester United in the Premier League, with Maresca addressing player fitness during his pre-match press conference. while most of the squad is recovering well from the weekend’s fixture,Palmer’s condition is being closely monitored after he was substituted in the 20th minute at Old Trafford.
“Cole is probably the only one that we need to assess a little bit,” Maresca stated. “The rest are okay,just recovering from last week.” He revealed Palmer pushed to play despite not being fully fit, adding, “he already made a huge effort last Saturday to try and play the game. He tried Saturday morning, he was not 100 per cent, but he wanted to be there to help his team-mates in that kind of game. It was painful [for him], so we decided to change. We await day by day to see how he is and then decide what we do.”
maresca also provided updates on Moises Caicedo and Joao Pedro, who are managing ongoing issues, but indicated the rest of the squad is in good condition. Badiashile and Lavia continue their rehabilitation,though Maresca offered a positive outlook. “[Benoit and Romeo] will not be back for this game, unluckily,” he said. “They both took part in the session yesterday, which is good news, and hopefully they can be available soon.”
The Chelsea manager also hinted at potential involvement for Academy players in the matchday squad, emphasizing the importance of a strong performance as the team aims to advance in the competition. “You can sleep very easy in these kind of games,” Maresca commented. “Football is full of these games. I am very worried about that, but for sure, we will have some players from the academy, like we have always done.”
