Why Cole Palmer is missing from Chelsea squad vs Brighton in huge blow to Liam Rosenior

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Cole Palmer has been left out of Chelsea's trip to Brighton for this evening's Premier League fixture due to a minor hamstring problem.

The Blues desperately require victory at the Amex Stadium to maintain their faint Champions League qualification ambitions. Liverpool extended their advantage over Chelsea to seven points following their triumph against Everton on Sunday afternoon, less than 24 hours after Manchester United defeated the Blues by a single goal at Stamford Bridge.

A dismal weekend places additional pressure on Chelsea to claim all three points tonight. Nevertheless, Liam Rosenior must attempt this without Palmer, who hasn't made the journey to the south coast owing to a hamstring complaint. Palmer will undergo assessment before this weekend's FA Cup semi-final encounter with Leeds United .

Speaking earlier this month, Palmer said he had "turned a corner" regarding his fitness. The 23-year-old, who has managed just 10 goals across all competitions for the west Londoners this term, has been battling a complicated groin injury throughout most of the season.

When questioned by football.london whether he believed Palmer had turned a corner, Rosenior said: "If Cole feels that, that is great. Cole, as I've said many times before, is a top player who's gone through a really difficult period in terms of injury, in terms of the amount of games he's had.

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"What I'm seeing in Cole now is a brightness, a freshness, and hopefully he can maintain that between now and the end of the season."

Joao Pedro continues to be sidelined with a thigh problem after the ex-Brighton striker was ruled out of Saturday's loss to Man United. It appears to be a back three/back five formation, with Trevoh Chalobah returning to the starting XI alongside fellow centre-backs Wesley Fofana and Jorrel Hato. Romeo Lavia is recalled to the team. Pedro Neto appears set to operate just behind striker Liam Delap at the Amex.

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Rosenior was brutally honest about the Blues' hopes of finishing in the top five this season. However, he has made it clear he and his players have not given up hope.

He said: "We’ve made it very difficult for ourselves. We have to be honest and realistic with that, but what we can’t do is give up. We have to keep fighting.

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"We have to make sure we go to Brighton with similar attributes to what I saw against Manchester United in terms of our energy, intensity and engagement to the game, which was good. But we didn’t keep a clean sheet, and we didn’t take advantage of the chances, so we need to be more clinical and ruthless in both boxes."

Chelsea XI vs Brighton: Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Hato, Cucurella; Caicedo, Lavia, Fernandez; Neto, Delap

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