Chelsea injury news: Liam Rosenior reveals plans for Cole Palmer, hints at status for Arsenal EFL Cup semi-final

Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior has suggested that he will err on the side of caution with regards to Cole Palmer's fitness.

Rosenior is currently preparing for his first game as Blues boss at Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea facing Arsenal in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final on Wednesday night.

Ahead of the London derby, Palmer is one of three players who has been singled out by Rosenior as having recently contended with minor injuries.

The England international, as well as Reece James and Malo Gusto, were left out of Saturday's 5-1 victory over Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup third round with the view of returning for the showdown with the Gunners.

Nevertheless, while speaking in-depth on his plans for Palmer, Rosenior hinted that he will take no risks on his fitness.

"It would be crazy"

As quoted by the club's official website, Rosenior said: "‘I had a really good in-depth conversation with Cole [on Monday], I've had a good in-depth conversation with the medical team, and we're at a stage of the season where we've got another eight games in four weeks, so it'd be crazy for me to risk any player in this phase of the season.

"I have real faith in this group and they showed that against Charlton. We made eight changes and we had a good performance. I'll make more changes for Wednesday and I'll make more changes on Saturday.

"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."

Rosenior's comments come on the back of it being widely reported that one of the reasons why Enzo Maresca's relationship with key figures behind the scenes was down to acting against medical advice when players had recently returned from injury.

Right time to rest Palmer

Palmer has reached this stage of the season having made 10 starts and two substitute outings in all competitions.

However, between December 20 and January 7, the 23-year-old played 379 minutes across five Premier League matches.

A rest against Charlton was inevitable, but Rosenior seemingly feels tempted to leave Palmer out for a second fixture in succession.

With key fixtures against Brentford in the Premier League and Pafos in the Champions League on January 17 and January 21 respectively, it makes more sense to rest Palmer against Arsenal than put him at risk of missing that double-header.