Any team would be eager to make full use of a player of Palmer’s talent and his return to the pitch following a lay-off earlier in the season was a welcome boost for Maresca and the Blues.

The forward made his comeback as a substitute away at Leeds United in the Premier League, before returning to the starting line-up for our next game in that competition, against Bournemouth. Palmer then sat out our UEFA Champions League trip to Italy in midweek as the club managed his workload.

Maresca has already stated he expects to have Chelsea's No.10 available for selection again when we host Everton at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon, but explained why he is taking a cautious approach, despite being eager to add his quality to our line-up.

‘With Cole, it’s just a matter of the more players you have that are good, the team is better,’ said our head coach, before expanding on a comment where he had earlier said Cole finished Thursday's training session with 'a mixed feeling'.

‘In terms of the mixed feeling, he had a session with us, overall he was fine, but still it was a little bit painful.

‘He was feeling some pain in his groin. It’s something we need to monitor. Hopefully it won’t be for the full season, but it’s something that is a little bit day-by-day. You can see it is getting better and then some days it can be worse.

‘For instance, after Leeds it was completely bad the day after and he played half an hour. After Bournemouth it was okay and he played one hour. So there is not any sense to it, but it is the day-by-day that decides how he feels.

‘At the moment, absolutely he is in that group that can’t start every game.’

With Liam Delap suffering an injury in the match against Bournemouth, we are down one forward at the moment, and Maresca also discussed his striker options during his interview.

One such option is Joao Pedro, who netted his fifth goal of the season – and first-ever in the Champions League – with a true striker’s finish to open the scoring at Atalanta. His form in that role is pleasing our head coach.

‘It’s good for him, it’s good for us, especially because now Liam has an injury,’ added Enzo. ‘We need the options up front.

‘In some moments against Bournemouth and some moments against Leeds we used also Marc Guiu, so we try to find solutions.

‘But if Joao is scoring goals and is doing well, we are much more happy with that.’

Another goal by the Brazilian when we take on Everton at the Bridge at 3pm on Saturday would certainly be welcome.

Chelsea Foundation will be hosting a 'Magic of Blue' collection point at Britannia Gate ahead of Chelsea vs Everton for supporters to donate gifts. All gifts need to be in their original packaging and we are not able to accept food or drink items. Items welcome for donation include:

- Soft cosy blankets
- Unisex warm socks/Slipper socks (with grip bottoms)
- Gloves/Mittens/Hats/Scarves
- Craft kits/Puzzles/Crossword books
- Photo albums/Notebooks/2026 diaries and calendars
- Christmas decorations

Supporters are also able to donate money to support those experiencing loneliness at ChelseaFC.com/MagicOfBlue. So help support Chelsea FC Foundation by donating or sharing with your friends.