Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that a fully fit Cole Palmer has been left "disappointed" after being snubbed by Gareth Southgate.

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• Palmer received England call up for March friendlies
• Missed Brazil match & was bench warmer vs Belgium
• Forward unhappy after failing to get minutes

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  The 21-year-old midfielder has been in stellar form for Chelsea this season with 11 goals and eight assists in the Premier League. He was awarded an England call-up for the friendlies against Brazil and Belgium. However, Palmer's hopes of making an impact on the international stage were dashed as he was sidelined for the 1-0 defeat to Brazil due to an injury and subsequently found himself warming the bench for England's 2-2 draw with the Rode Duivels on Tuesday.

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  WHAT POCHETTINO SAID

  Speaking about Palmer's disappointment, Pochettino acknowledged the midfielder's frustration at being unable to represent his country on the field.

  "I was talking with him, yes, he’s a little bit disappointed because he could not play with the national team," the Argentine manager told reporters. "I think the first game he had a small problem, I think he thought he could play in the second game against Belgium but he didn’t play."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Pochettino is sure Palmer will be available for Chelsea's upcoming Premier League fixture against Burnley, saying: "Now he’s okay, he’s training well. Still one more training session tomorrow [Friday], but I think the plan is if he follows tomorrow in the same way I think he will be available for the game on Saturday."

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• DID YOU KNOW?

  Despite Palmer's absence from the two international friendlies, Southgate assured that he remains in contention for a spot in the squad for the upcoming Euros if he continues to perform in the same vein for his club.

  "I said when I named the squad there is competition for places in those wide areas," Southgate said. "A bit of a shame that Cole Palmer missed so much training that we weren’t able to put him into the game [against Belgium] at the stage it was having missed most of the week. We weren’t 100 per cent certain what we would get whereas with [Anthony] Gordon we knew and with [James] Maddison we knew. I wouldn’t rule Cole out of that equation."

Tags: Futebol
Category: News