Is Cole Palmer injured? Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino explains surprise decision to substitute 16-goal forward when protecting narrow lead at Sheffield United

As Chelsea were rocked by a 2-2 draw against Sheffield United, in-form forward Cole Palmer was subbed off while Chelsea were in the lead.

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WHAT HAPPENED?
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino took the former Manchester City forward off in the 74th minute with the Blues winning the game 2-1 at that point. However, an injury-time equaliser by Oli McBurnie meant that the Londoners only left Bramall Lane with a point. Pochettino has now explained his decision to sub off the 21-year-old despite the game being tightly contested.

WHAT POCHETTINO SAID
When asked in the post-match conference if Palmer was injured, Pochettino said [via Metro UK]: "No, no, no. I think he was tired. My feeling was he was tired. Carney [Chukwuemeka] is another number 10 who can play there and do the job. We need to protect him. He got a knock against Manchester United and was a bit more tired than normal. We wanted to protect him after scoring the second goal – trying to avoid a problem in the future."
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THE BIGGER PICTURE
In what has been a terribly bad season for Chelsea, the rise of Palmer has possibly been the only glimmer of hope for the Blues fans. The 21-year-old has scored a total of 16 goals and provided nine assists in 25 Premier League matches for the Blues this season. Despite his form, Chelsea have struggled to bring in the points this season and Pochettino could very well lose his job at the end of the season.

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WHAT NEXT FOR PALMER?
Considering that the England international is only fatigued and not injured, he could likely not start Chelsea's next match against Everton in the Premier League so that he can be fully fit for their FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City on April 20.

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