Palmer to miss Chelsea's games with Barcelona & Arsenal after breaking toe in his home

Chelsea's Cole Palmer
Chelsea's Cole PalmerJohn Walton, PA Images / Alamy / Profimedia

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca admits Cole Palmer has suffered another injury setback ahead of Saturday's trip to Burnley.

A win at Turf Moor could move Chelsea into second place on the Premier League table. But this morning's media preview kicked off with Maresca confirming a new setback for Palmer.

There had been hope of the England midfielder being ready for next week's Champions League clash with Barcelona, but Maresca said: "He is probably not available for tomorrow, for sure; Barcelona, for sure; Arsenal, for sure.

"Unfortunately he had an accident at home with his toe. But it's nothing important. For sure he is not back next week.

"We don't know. It's (Palmer's toe) fractured. The only thing we know he is not available for this week and next week."

Asked about how the setback occured, Maresca revealed: "I wake up many times in the night to go to the toilet, I hit my head and leg and everything. It can happen.

"The last time I saw him was yesterday morning and he was without socks, without flip-flops, without nothing. I don't know how he is today. It was in the changing room. He wasn't limping, he seemed okay, but it's his small toe, so it can be painful."

Quizzed whether Chelsea can now succeed without their midfield playmaker, Maresca replied: "Absolutely not, I don't think that. The team prefer it when Cole is playing, I feel much better with Cole on the pitch but when he is not, we need to find solutions. The team is doing fantastic, really well.

"For any manager, it's nice when you miss a player but the team still plays in the way you want it to."

Burnley tactics

On what he expects from Burnley, Maresca believes it will be a very different game to their win against Wolves before the international break.

He explained, "It will be a different game. Tomorrow, we need to use different strategy and weapons. It will be a tough game after the international break, 12:30, away, it's always a difficult game."

Disasi return

Meanwhile, Maresca was asked about the surprise recall to the senior squad of Axel Disasi. The France defender had been frozen out since preseason training, but is now back working with Maresca and his staff.

The manager explained: "I said many times that Axel and Raheem (Sterling) are Chelsea players. Axel is helping the second team, the young players.

"We had five or six players here during the break and Axel was part of some sessions with second team players, but I think it's just one session. At the moment, he is helping the second team. He is a Chelsea player and he is with the second team."

On rumours of goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen planning to leave in January, Maresca concluded: "I spoke with Filip at the beginning of the season and I didn't speak with Filip in the last days about that.

"All the players that don't play a lot, they want more minutes, it's completely normal."