Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca will serve a one-match touchline ban after his sending-off against Liverpool earlier this month.
The Football Association said Maresca had, earelir this week, admitted a misconduct charge, having been dismissed in the sixth minute of stoppage time in the match after wildly celebrating his side’s winner.
The Italian will now be banned from the touchline for Chelsea’s match away to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday.
Maresca is reported to have told the Italian media that it had been ‘an instinctive reaction’ and added ‘but I think (the red card) was worth it’.
Chelsea, meanwhile, will also again be without the injured Cole Palmer after Maresca warned the club’s medical staff are not magicians.
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The 23-year-old has been struggling with a groin injury for much of the season and has not played since being taken off 20 minutes into the 2-1 defeat by Manchester United on September 20.
Prior to the international break Maresca said he had hoped to have Palmer back for Saturday’s game at Nottingham Forest but, when asked about the progress of the injury, he admitted: ‘I was wrong. Unfortunately he needs to be out probably six more weeks.
‘We try just to protect Cole as much as we can. The most important thing is that when he comes back he’s fully fit.’
‘Unfortunately the medical staff are not magicians. You never know that (timeframe). Probably he needs six weeks. We hope six weeks are enough. It’s a problem we need to see step by step, week after week.
‘He looks relaxed. He’s doing all the therapy that he needs to do. He looks good.’
The injury, which first presented when he was forced to withdraw from the line-up minutes before kick-off in the 5-1 win over West Ham in August, will not require surgery.
Chelsea coped well in his absence that day but at times this season have looked desperately short of creativity when Palmer has not been on the pitch.
The dependence on their talisman was evident during September’s 2-2 draw at Brentford when a display painfully lacking in attacking bite was enlivened once he was brought on in the second half.
Palmer scored Chelsea’s equaliser and generally tipped the balance of the match in favour of Maresca’s side.
He also missed the unconvincing home win over Fulham and defeat to Brighton, though the team gave a more promising glimpse of life without their best player in the 2-1 win over Liverpool before the international break.
‘To replace Cole is difficult because he is a very important player for us, probably one of the best in the Premier League,’ said Maresca. ‘To replace that kind of player is always difficult.
‘It depends on the game plan. Against Liverpool in that position was Malo Gusto. Against Benfica it was Facundo (Buonanotte). We need to find different solutions.
‘We don’t have another player like Cole. He is unique.’
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