Cole Palmer injury update as Enzo Maresca delivers latest news ahead of Brentford clash

Enzo Maresca has revealed that Cole Palmer may still be absent from Chelsea's west London derby against Brentford, despite his recent return to training sessions. Palmer has been sidelined for the Blues' previous two fixtures due to a groin injury.

The 23-year-old was forced to withdraw from the warm-up before the victory at West Ham United and was consequently omitted from Thomas Tuchel's England squad during the recent international window. Until this point, supporters had been left in the dark regarding Palmer's condition, except for a photograph released showing the forward participating in a training session.

However, Maresca has now provided an update on the Chelsea striker during his pre-Brentford press briefing. The Blues manager explained: "Cole took part in the session yesterday for the first time, not the entire session. "We have one more session this afternoon and we are going to try with him to see if he's okay, otherwise he will be out tomorrow."

Maresca added: "He is recovering from an injury, it's not managing him, it's recovering from an injury. When he is available, we need to manage him because of the amount of games."

Maresca also provided an update on Liam Delap, who sustained a hamstring problem during the triumph over Fulham. The Blues chief originally indicated that the 22 year old would be unavailable for six to eight weeks, but regrettably, this timeline has now been extended with the forward set to miss "10 to 12 weeks" of action.

Regarding further injury updates ahead of this weekend's clash with Brentford, Maresca also revealed there is a "question mark" hanging over all players who have returned from international duty in South America.

Joao Pedro, Andrey Santos and Estevao Willian featured for Brazil in their away fixture against Bolivia, whilst Moises Caicedo received his marching orders during Ecuador's 1-0 triumph over Argentina this week. "The three Brazilian players arrived yesterday but didn't train," Maresca revealed.

"Moi arrived last night - I didn't see him, I will see him today. For all of them it is a question mark for tomorrow. When they play in Bolivia, it's difficult. Hopefully they can be back soon."