Maresca: Palmer not fully fit before start vs. Utd

MANCHESTER, England -- Enzo Maresca has revealed that Cole Palmer was not fully fit before starting the defeat to Manchester United on Saturday, but praised the England forward for the "effort" to make himself available at Old Trafford.

Palmer was substituted after just 20 minutes with Chelsea already a man down thanks to Robert Sánchez's red card and a goal down after Bruno Fernandes' opener.

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Ruben Amorim's team eventually won 2-1 and Maresca confirmed afterwards that he had taken a risk with Palmer's fitness.

"Cole, he trained this morning, he had a test this morning to play this game," said Maresca.

"He was not 100% fit. He made a fantastic effort to play this game, but he was not 100%."

Palmer walked straight down the tunnel after being substituted and returned before the end of the first half with an ice pack at the top of his thigh.

The 23-year-old has only just returned from a groin injury.

His start in the 3-1 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday was his first since the opening weekend of the season.

"It's a problem that is already a long time for him, he's groin again," said Maresca.

"He did, this morning, a test. He wants to play this game for the team to be close, so the effort has been huge from him.

"But then after 20 minutes he starts to feel something. so we decided to change him."