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Liam Rosenior has been speaking about the condition of Cole Palmer, who has struggled with injuries this season
Liam Rosenior has acknowledged it would be "crazy" to risk Cole Palmer against Arsenal this evening given his current fitness situation.
Palmer has struggled with a recurring groin injury this season, limiting the 23-year-old to just over 750 minutes in all competitions. The England international spent three months on the sidelines before returning on December 3 but since then, Chelsea's talisman has scored only two goals in eight appearances.
Palmer then missed Saturday evening's win over Charlton Athletic with a knock, with Rosenior and the club's medical staff set to assess him before tonight’s Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg against Arsenal.
"I had a really good, in-depth, conversation with Cole today [Monday]," said Rosenior. "I had a really good, in-depth, conversation with the medical team. We are at a stage of the season where, I think we have another eight games in three weeks. So it would be crazy for me to risk any player in this phase of the season.
"I have real faith in the group. They showed that. I made eight changes [at Charlton] and we had a really good performance. I'll make more changes for Wednesday. I'll make more changes for Saturday. But to risk a player's health in January is a crazy thing to do if you have the ambition that you want to be strong at the end of the season."
It is almost the midway point of the January transfer window and Chelsea are yet to make a signing. It seems as if it might be a quiet window for the Blues, with Rosenior content with the squad he has at Stamford Bridge.
"The first conversation I had with the guys is that I want to assess the most important players, which are the guys that are here," said the Chelsea head coach. "Normally you get good surprises if you give people a chance.
"There were some really good surprises in the game against Charlton. The performance from some of the players who maybe haven’t played as much this season was outstanding.
"I want to give them a chance. Yes, we're in January and, yes, we want the club to be as successful as possible in the short term, but I also think sometimes the answers lay within the building and not outside. So I will make a decision on that with the guys, probably later in the window when I've seen everyone play."
Axel Disasi and Raheem Sterling have not been involved with the first team at all this season and no decision has been made just yet on their future at the club.
"I haven't [spoken with Disasi or Sterling]," Rosenior said. "To be honest, I've had so much on. I've been in for three days. This is my fourth day in the job.
"I will have conversations with them. We’re in January, as you know. Raheem's had an outstanding career. I've got huge respect for him and Axel, who was someone I've really, really liked for a long time. But in this moment, with the amount of games that we've got and the stuff I've had to do, I haven't got on to that topic. I will do it in the next few days."
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