Every word Enzo Maresca said on Cole Palmer injury, Garnacho vs Brentford and Chelsea charges

Enzo Maresca has just completed his pre-match press conference ahead of Chelsea's trip to Brentford on Saturday evening.

The Blues have the opportunity to move to the top of the Premier League table this weekend, with Liverpool playing after them on Sunday afternoon. However, in their way stand the Bees, who have a strong home record in recent times against their west London rivals.

Maresca, speaking at Chelsea's training base on Friday morning, previewed the match and addressed a number of other topics. Below is every word the Blues head coach had to say in his pre-match press conference:

Cole Palmer still injured? Is it a case of managing his fitness over the next few months?

Cole took part of the session yesterday for the first time, not the entire session. Today in the afternoon we have one more session, we're going to try with him, if he's okay, otherwise he will be out tomorrow again.

Is this a case of managing him or is it a case of an injury that he's got and he's now fully fit?

No, no, it was an injury, he's recovering from the injury so it's not managing him, it's just recovery from the injury. For sure in the moment that he's available we also probably need to think to manage him to be in because of the amount of games.

In terms of Liam Delap, do you know any more about his availability since we've spoken to you last week?

No, Liam I think is around 10-12 weeks, so a long way to go.

Reece James played twice for England. Is he ready to play tomorrow?

In the moment that any player joins the international team it's free to play the minutes that the manager thinks that he has to play, so it's not in my hands. When Reece is here we try to manage him as much as we can. Since I joined the club I'm doing that with him, with Romeo [Lavia], with Wes [Fofana], with the ones that in the past they had problems, but I think now Reece is showing that he's quite fit to play two, three games in a week.

So he's good to go this weekend?

Yeah, he's good.

Levi Colwill was named in your Champions League squad. Is there any update on his fitness?

Depends where we arrive in the Champions League. Levi's injury is an ACL injury, so ACL is not one month or two months, it's six, seven, eight months. So we don't know, but for sure he will be back, but at the moment it's not something that we are worried about.

Would you have liked to keep Nicolas Jackson?

Nico, for me it's quite easy in terms of, in this moment he's a Bayern Munich player. I sent him a message, I wish him all the best. Nico, until the day he was here, he was very good, he was working well. So I wish him all the best, and that's the only thing I can say.

You've had Alejandro Garnacho in the building for a couple of weeks. He's been training amongst your squad. What sort of relationship have you begun to build with him? How have you found him in terms of what you can see of potential, but also him around the place, his personality, how well do you feel he fits in?

He's working well. For sure he needs to work because he arrived here probably not 100% fit. So he needs to work. He's working well and we'll see. But hopefully soon we can give him minutes.

What makes Brentford a difficult challenge?

I think it's always a tough game. It was last year, as you said, in both games. But the Premier League is the best league in the world probably for that because against any club it's always tough. We play three games, Palace are doing fantastic, Fulham, West Ham, it's always difficult. So tomorrow I expect exactly the same.

Where can your team improve?

Probably in terms of players, I think there is always things that we can improve. And improving players, most of the time you improve the team. And then probably for the team we start to add more solutions in terms of structure, in terms of being dynamic. And I think we can still add solutions on that.

Has Marc Cucurella's improvement been down to him?

At the end it's always about players, no doubt. But I think we said already many times with Cucu, with Enzo [Fernandez], with Moi [Caicedo], I think even Levi, when I joined the club, the situation around these players was a bit different compared to today. And at the end it's because the way they want to improve, the way they want to learn. We just give them tools and then they are the ones that play the games.

Playing in London for the first four games - has that helped you?

To be honest, the last time we played, I think, West Ham away was two hours and a half bus [laughs]. I don't think so, to be honest, at the end. I don't think so. They are all derbies but I don't think that makes a big difference.

Can you talk to us about Enzo Fernandez's improvement?

First of all, when you arrive here from another country it's always difficult because you think it's completely different to the rest of the league. Also, I think Enzo is a great player. He struggled with us at the beginning of last season to understand a little bit what we want from him. Then in the moment that he realised and understood the situation, I think he's a much, much better player. I see Enzo as more of an attacking midfielder. The numbers also show that in terms of goals and assists. Hopefully he can continue in the same way.

Since February you've got the best defensive record in the Premier League as well. Were you conscious about having to tighten up at the back?

I always say the same to the players since day one. We attack good, we create chances, we can be dangerous if we build in the right way with defenders, we defend well if we press well with the attacking player. It's not about how we defend, how we attack. For me, it's about all the team.

You can create chances, building in the right way with Levi, with Tosin [Adarabioyo], with Trev [Chalobah], with Wes, with the ones that build our style. We can defend better if previously Nicolas, or Liam now, or Joao [Pedro] now, or Cole, or Pedro[Neto], these guys, they press in the right way. It's about all the team. We are happy in the way we are defending. We are happy in the way we are attacking, knowing that, as we said before, it's always about trying to evolve, always trying to improve.

I'm sure you're delighted the transfer window is over. Did you get what you wanted from it? Are you happy with what you got?

I think we have a good squad. At my press conference with Chelsea one year ago, I said that I was in love with the squad and this was the reason why I decided to join this club, because the squad was already very good. Since that, we tried to make some changes and overall I think the squad is good.

What about your striker options, obviously with the injury to Liam Delap, has that left you a little bit short?

We have the injury, for sure, now in this moment, in the No.9. The only one is [Marc] Guiu and Joao also can play there. Against Fulham, we use Tyrique as a No.9, so we can also think about him.

Can I just ask one question on the charges against the club? Have you spoken to anybody in the powers that be just to explain what's going on and what could happen, punishment-wise?

I know from the club that they are satisfied about the situation, about the process. Personally, I don't have nothing to add. First of all, because I don't have any idea, to be honest. So if I say something, I can probably be wrong or right, but I don't have any idea. I just focus, like I always said, on the pitch side. Something that I can control, the rest is not in my hands.

You had three boys from Brazil in Bolivia at altitude on Wednesday morning and Caicedo in South America as well. Are you confident you can get a tune out of them so soon after?

The three Brazilian players arrived yesterday. They didn't train. They did some recovery session. Moi arrived last night, so I didn't see him. I will see him today. So for all of them, it's a question mark for tomorrow. But when they play in Bolivia, it's so difficult that they can be back very soon.

Will the players be distracted by the club being charged?

I don't think personally. I don't think the players are too worried about the situation to be honest.

Thoughts on the signing of Facundo Buonanotte?

Buonanotte is a good player. I know him because he was in Leicester and I was there, so I have some contact there. He's a player that can help us. We have so many competitions, so many games, that for sure he's going to play games for us.

Did you speak to Nicolas Jackson personally during that 48 hours of uncertainty to let him know that you wanted him back?

I didn't speak with him. No. As I said, I sent him a message just to wish him all the best.

Are you confident the club acted fairly towards him during that period, given that he'd been told he could go?

I think at the end if the club decide for something different, because the club still has the power to do that.