Latest Chelsea injury news for Brentford amid Cole Palmer plan as worst-case timeline emerges

Enzo Maresca will deliver a Cole Palmer injury update for the first time in two weeks ahead of Chelsea's return to Premier League action on Saturday evening. The attacking midfielder has not featured since Sunday, August 17, in his side's goalless draw with Crystal Palace on the opening day of the season.

Five days later, Palmer pulled out of the Blues' starting XI to face West Ham United, with Maresca then revealing it was because of a pre-existing issue and not one suffered during the warm-up at London Stadium.

"Cole in the last four or five days was not 100%," he admitted in a press conference. "He tried the warm-up, but he felt something. So we prefer not to take any risk to get worse. And we'll see if it's something important or not.

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"The Palace game, he was not 100%. But he is trying to make a big effort for the club, for the team, for the fans. He tried again, but it was not very good."

Plenty of injury speculation has emerged in the last fortnight, with some eagle-eyed Chelsea supporters believing they even saw Palmer in the background of training photos.

While nothing official has been released, Stephen Smith, CEO and founder of Kitman Labs, who work with the Premier League as injury welfare specialists, has explained what he thinks the plan is.

"It is an ongoing thing with Palmer they appear to be managing," Smith told Metro. "The fact he was able to go out and warm up [before the West Ham game] and felt it there, I think what you are seeing there is a very conservative and mature approach to managing a very valuable asset.

"We know all the staff at Chelsea are absolutely world class, so what you are seeing there is the strength in their beliefs and processes come to a fore. I wouldn’t be too concerned, I imagine he is being very well looked after."

Nonetheless, Maresca will want Palmer back as soon as possible, but he may not be risked for the trip to Brentford with a Champions League clash away at Bayern Munich just a few days later.

Other Chelsea stars are also injury doubts for the weekend, though Maresca's update suggests a double return is on the way. "Romeo [Lavia] and Benoit [Badiashile], I don't think they will be back after the international break, but they will be closer," he said.suggests

There have also been concerns surrounding Moises Caicedo after he missed Ecuador's first clash of the international break because of physical discomfort. He featured in their next game but was sent off for two yellow cards.

Liam Delap and Dario Essugo look to be long-term absentees with the latter forced to undergo surgery after a thigh injury picked up on international duty.According to the Athletic, Chelsea fear the midfielder could be out for a minimum of 12 weeks.

Delap, meanwhile, is expected to be on the sidelines until November before returning to feature in Chelsea's festive schedule. The 22-year-old suffered a hamstring injury in the 2-0 win over Fulham before the international break.

As for Brentford, Keith Andrews does not have any marquee first-teamers absent though Gustavo Nunes, Yunus Emre Konak and Paris Maghoma are all doubts.

Vitaly Janelt has not featured since April but returned to team training prior to the two-week domestic pause. As he has been absent for five months, it seems unlikely the German midfielder is in the matchday squad.