Enzo Maresca has revealed that Cole Palmer was suffering from diarrhoea in the days before Chelsea’s win over Leicester City, where he missed the first penalty of his career.
Chelsea leapfrogged Manchester City and moved back into the Premier League top four on Sunday following a nervy 1-0 victory over Leicester.
Marc Cucurella’s fantastic goal in the second-half secured the three points but Stamford Bridge was left stunned after a surprise event before the break.
Jadon Sancho won a penalty for the home side in the 19th minute after being fouled by Victor Kristiansen, with Palmer stepping up to the spot as per usual.
The England international has earned a reputation for being ice cold from 12 yards, scoring all of his previous 17 penalties for club and country.
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But Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen dived well to his left to save Palmer’s spot-kick to the delight of Foxes fans and the shock of everyone else.
After a brilliant start to the campaign, the attacking midfielder has now gone nine games without a goal contribution and was hauled off after 73 minutes on Sunday after spurning several great chances.
Maresca defended his talisman after full-time, revealing that the 22-year-old was not 100 per cent fit going into the match which affected his performance.
‘It’s very easy, Cole didn’t train yesterday because he didn’t feel well,’ the Chelsea head coach explained.
‘This morning he woke up and asked if he could be on the pitch to help this club play in the Champions League. He didn’t feel well in the night but he wanted to be there to help win the game.
‘In the last two days he was completely out. Fever and diarrhea. In the last 48 hours he didn’t train. He was really bad.
‘The Leicester keeper is brilliant and Cole is going to score more penalties and miss more.
‘The people need to understand the effort he made to be there. Cole is a top player. Everything is normal now. We are happy with him.
‘Sometimes the fans don’t understand how difficult it is. We prepared in the last three games in one and Leicester played in a different way. We need 12 players at home and I think we can be there.’
Palmer went straight down the tunnel after being subbed off and looked unhappy, though Maresca clarified this was because he had to use toilet.
Chelsea fans will be hoping Palmer is fully fit and back to his best on Thursday when Copenhagen visit Stamford Bridge for the second leg of their Conference League last 16 tie.
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