It was on 20 September, away to Manchester United, that Palmer was forced off with a groin injury that required careful management. As a result, the 23-year-old didn't return to action until our trip to Leeds United on 3 December.

Palmer featured for 30 minutes at Elland Road and then started back-to-back Premier League matches against Bournemouth and Everton. He scored a well-taken goal against the latter, which set us on the way to a 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge.

Having come through both matches unscathed – and not travelling with the squad for our midweek League Cup win over Cardiff City – Palmer is in contention to feature at St James' Park tomorrow afternoon. And Maresca believes the Blues' No.10 is now ready to play 90 minutes.

‘He is available,' the Blues head coach said. 'He has already played 60 minutes twice – last time maybe it was even a little bit more. So the progression is that he can play more minutes, whether that is for 70 or 90 minutes depends on the game.’

The Blues will also be boosted at St James' Park by the return from suspension of Moises Caicedo, who missed our three previous Premier League matches due to the red card he sustained against Arsenal.

Enzo Fernandez could also come back into the side after not featuring against Cardiff in midweek, although the Argentine was among the Blues' substitutes in the Welsh capital.

'Moi was three games suspended, but they are players who have played a lot,' Maresca explained when asked about his midfield options.

'At the moment, I don’t think we have a natural replacement for Enzo. We have adapted Andrey Santos, but Andrey is more of a number six, Moi’s position, than Enzo. Moi is also playing a lot as, unfortunately, we have had Romeo (Lavia) out and Dario (Essugo) out at the same time.

'So they are playing a lot, but if you look at Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City – the clubs that play Champions League – they also have players that play in every game.'