'It's tiny!' - Cole Palmer worryingly misses Chelsea's Champions League tie with Pafos as Liam Rosenior explains talisman's absence

Palmer's season has been disrupted by injury problems, with the England star having only made 13 appearances in all competitions so far for the Blues. Rosenior has been forced to cope without Palmer again for the visit of Pafos and has made six changes to his starting XI, naming Liam Delap, Alejandro Garnacho, Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez in his attack. The game is Rosenior's first as a manager in the Champions League and sees him come up against Cypriot opposition. 

Rosenior explained before kick-off why Palmer has been ruled out. He told TNT Sports: "Cole has just missed out on this one. Hopefully he will be OK for Sunday's game at Palace. He picked up a tiny, little strain. I mean tiny. More of a fatigue injury, in the last game. We just want to make sure, at this stage of the season, that everyone is feeling good."

The Chelsea boss was also asked about his starting XI after changing his entire backline and starting Jorrel Hato, Benoit Badiashile, Wesley Fofana and Malo Gusto against Pafos. He explained: "All of the players, I've been really lucky, because we've had so many games in a short space of time. All of the players I've picked have impressed me. Filip [Jorgensen] was outstanding against Charlton, Jorrel [Hato] scored against Charlton, was very, very good, he's an outstanding young player. Benoit and Wesley we know are outstanding players, Malo is back from injury. I know I have a fantastic outstanding squad. I know I need to use the squad with the amount of games we've got to keep up fresh and fit and I'm sure they will do a very, very good job this evening.

"I think we've had illness in the camp as well and that's affected my selection in the team. I know these players are very, very good players and I trust my group. So in terms of changing the back four. We picked up a different back four for Brentford, with Tosin [Adarabioyo] and Trevoh [Chalobah] and the long throws that go into the box. I have got very good defenders throughout the squad who can deal with different games and different situations."

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Wednesday's match sees former Chelsea star David Luiz back at Stamford Bridge. The Brazilian is only on the bench for Pafos but spoke before the game about how special it is to play against his former club. He told reporters: "It’s a gift from God to be back here again, I had the opportunity to be back in Europe again, and then God was great with me again, put Pafos in the Champions League, and now we are here playing against Chelsea.I  have seen some familiar faces, and this kind of connection is what makes this place special."

Luis also admitted that helping Chelsea win the Champions League was his favourite memory from his time at the club, adding: "The best moment of my career, for sure, was the night in Munich. It was a special night for everybody, and I’m never going to forget it. In this stadium? I have many great memories. My first goal here against Man Utd was amazing. It made me understand what Chelsea is."

Chelsea return to Premier League action against Palace on Sunday at Selhurst Park in the Premier League. It's hoped that Palmer will be fit for that match, with the Blues then set to head to Napoli for their final match of the Champions League group phase.