An injury expert has revealed the potential length of time Cole Palmer could be missing, with the details of the Chelsea man’s injury revealed.

Palmer shot to Chelseafame in his first season, having hardly started at Manchester City after coming through their academy. He was directly involved in 40 goals in his first Blues campaign and 27 last season, before scoring three goals and assisting two more in the Club World Cup triumph.

This season, he’s had little chance to impress, having played just 235 minutes before being struck down by injuries. The first was a groin problem which has kept him out since September.

It was thought Palmer would be able to return at the end of November, but Enzo Maresca has revealed he’s broken his toe in a freak accident at home, ruling him out further.

The Chelsea boss saidprior to playing Burnley at the weekend: “He is probably not available for Saturday for sure, Barcelona for sure or Arsenal for sure.

“Unfortunately, he had an accident at home where he hit his toe. It is nothing important, but he won’t be back in the next week.”

An injury expert has revealed that while Maresca sounds positive about the prognosis, Palmer might be missing a while yet.

Respected expert Physio Scout explained to Daily Sportsthat a toe fracture generally takes 3-6 weeks to heal, but there are variables which could mean it’s a struggle to meet the lower end of that, such as the fracture line being favourable.

With the fifth toe sitting where the boot narrows, pushing off and changing direction could currently be a problem for Palmer, so while he’ll be able to walk on the training ground fine, 90 minutes of football, planting his feet in different positions and turning, create a very different load for him.

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As he’s also coming back from a groin injury, a congested fixture schedule in December sounds an optimistic shout for his return.

Indeed, Chelsea have to manage Palmer’s groin alongside his toe, ensuring that both heal properly, rather than seeing one go away and running the risk of the other being aggravated.

If it is six weeks that the superstar misses, he’ll be gone until January, having missed more than three months of the season by that point.

Palmer is already known to be missing important clashes against Barcelona and Arsenal, while he’d also be gone for the League Cup quarter-final, a game against fourth-placed Aston Villa, and potentially the trip to City in early January.

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