Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Cole Palmer faces a late fitness test ahead of the game against Brentford this weekend.

The 23-year-old has sat out the last two fixtures against West Ham and Fulham with a groin problem. Asked about Palmer’s condition in his pre-match press conference, Maresca replied:

“Cole took part in the session yesterday for the first time. Not the entire session. Today [Friday] in the afternoon, we have one more session. We are going to try with him.”

“If we think he feels good, it’s okay. Otherwise, he will be out tomorrow. It is just recovery from the injury. We probably need to manage him a little bit.”

Delap’s recovery timeline is revealed

Maresca also gave an estimated recovery period for Liam Delap, with the Italian stating that the striker will be sidelined for “around 10 to 12 weeks.”

That does suggest that Delap won’t be available until late November at the very earliest. The summer signing picked up a serious hamstring injury during the early stages of the 2-0 win over Fulham just before the international break.

There are doubts over the fitness of 4 other Chelsea stars

Having returned late from international duty in South America, Maresca also said that Moises Caicedo, Andrey Santos, Estevao and Joao Pedro could all be missing from the starting lineup for the Brentford game if they can’t recover in time:

“The three Brazilian players arrived yesterday. They didn’t train. They did some recovery sessions.”

“Moi arrived last night, so I didn’t see him. I will see him today. For all of them, it is a question mark for tomorrow. But when they play in Bolivia, it’s so difficult that they can be back very soon.”

The fact that the Brentford fixture takes place on Saturday evening will give the foursome a greater chance of playing, so don’t completely rule them out just yet.

Read more about the Chelsea First Team Squad for 2025/26 here