Cole Palmer injured? England drop worrying Chelsea injury update
England have confirmed that Chelsea attacker Cole Palmer is training indoors during the first day of preparations for friendly matches against Brazil and Belgium this week. The Blues forward played 90 minutes for Mauricio Pochettino’s side on Sunday against Leicester.
Palmer is one of several players in the Three Lions group at St George’s Park training away from the main bulk of Gareth Southgate’s squad. He was seen warming up with the rest of the team but is confirmed as being indoors for the first session.
Harry Kane, Jordan Henderson, and Bukayo Saka are all joining Palmer inside, a post from England states. There is no suggestion that he is a doubt to play in Saturday’s match at Wembley against Brazil.
Chelsea fans will be monitoring Palmer’s progress with his country regardless. He has been a revelation this season, scoring 14 times and assisting 12 in his 34 games. Palmer’s performances earned him a first cap for the senior England side earlier this season when he was called-up for the November internationals.
Palmer’s Chelsea teammates, Conor Gallagher and Ben Chilwell, were both on the grass for the training session. Gallagher also played the full match against the Foxes in the FA Cup quarter-finals three days ago, Chilwell was a second-half substitute.
Ensuring that Palmer is fit and firing will be central to Pochettino’s plans for the rest of the season. His side have relied heavily upon the output and impact from their summer signing this campaign.
Palmer is the top scorer and assister in the squad in his debut season and has played three times as many league minutes for the club as he did for Manchester City already. He has so far shown no signs of letting up either, although there will be caution over pushing him too far.