Palmer left out of Chelsea's Champions League squad to 'protect' him

Enzo Maresca says Chelsea are "protecting" Cole Palmer by not playing him against Atalanta in the Champions League.

Palmer made his first Chelsea appearance since mid-September when he started against Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday.

He managed 58 minutes in that match, having a single on-target shot and creating one chance for his team-mates, though only Enzo Fernandez (29) played more passes in the final third than Palmer (23).

However, Maresca noted the importance of managing Palmer's minutes as they continue to get him back to full match fitness.

"Cole, it's part of his process at the moment," Maresca said on Palmer's exclusion from the travelling squad.

"He is not available; he can't play two games in three days, so we planned this, and it's a way to protect him."

Liam Delap will also be absent on Tuesday, having suffered a shoulder injury in that match, but Maresca remains unsure of how long he will be out.

"Liam, fortunately, is not any fracture, so that is good news," Maresca said.

"Liam is an important player for us because we know that he needs to play games to get fit and better and better.

"I think that now he was a bit better compared to when he was back from injury, but now, unfortunately, he's again out, and we're going to try to find a solution."

Chelsea are playing their third straight away game, having also suffered a 3-1 loss to Leeds United at Elland Road before the goalless stalemate with Bournemouth.

This will be the Blues' 100th away game in the European Cup/Champions League. They have won 41 of the previous 99, the most by any English side through their first 100 matches, and second only to Barcelona (44) overall.

However, Chelsea are winless in their last four away games in the competition (D1 L3), last going five in a row without a victory in February 2012 (five).

"In terms of playing away, we were more points away than at home in the Premier League," Maresca said of their string of away fixtures.

"In the Champions League, we played two games, we drew and lost, but in the end, I think it's always things that balance out a bit at the end of the season.

"As far as away games are concerned, I'm not saying we're used to it, because it's hard to get used to, but not just away games, because there's no time between one game and the other. We played two days ago, we played two days before, but we're trying to adapt."

Atalanta and Chelsea are meeting for the first time in European competition, with both teams on 10 points in the Champions League table, though Maresca’s side are three places higher in seventh.