Chelsea injury news: Star player misses training ahead of Atalanta BC Champions League fixture

Chelsea may seemingly be without Cole Palmer for Tuesday's Champions League fixture against Atalanta BC.

The Blues will make the trip to Italy to face Serie A opposition with the opportunity to strengthen their position in the top eight of the League Phase standings.

Despite recent setbacks at Leeds United and Bournemouth, Palmer's return to action after more than two months on the sidelines has been a major positive.

Palmer was introduced as a second-half substitute at Elland Road before featuring for the first hour of Saturday's stalemate at the Vitality Stadium.

However, it appears that the England international may not feature against Atalanta on Tuesday night.

© Imago

Palmer misses Chelsea training

When Chelsea trained ahead of their trip to Italy on Monday morning, Palmer was a notable absentee.

While there is the possibility that he may have suffered an issue after recent groin and toe injuries, another explanation could be load management.

Having not featured since September 20, the 23-year-old played 87 minutes of football within the space of three days.

Therefore, Enzo Maresca may have already decided to hand Palmer a rest in order to reduce the chances of further fitness issues in the short term.

Chelsea still have six matches remaining in December and focus may be placed on having Palmer fit for matches with Everton, Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Bournemouth.

© Imago

Plenty of Palmer alternatives

Even with Liam Delap's absence reducing Chelsea's attacking options further, Maresca is not short of alternatives for Tuesday night.

Enzo Fernandez, Joao Pedro and Facundo Buonanotte are all capable of being deployed in the number 10 role.

Although there is the possibility of Fernandez being rested after a heavy workload and Pedro being used as the number nine, Buonanotte could be handed rare minutes on the back of over a month without any action.