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Cole Palmer, who is set for another cold spell on the sidelines after stubbing and breaking a toe at home, is not the first footballer to bizarrely knack themselves in a domestic incident. Michael Stensgaard arrived at Liverpool as suitable understudy to David James in 1994 but the goalkeeper never made an appearance after dislocating a shoulder when setting up an ironing board. In a plot twist that Armando Iannuci and Steve Coogan seem to have overlooked while writing I’m Alan Partridge in the 1990s, Dave Beasant severed the tendon in a big toe in 1993 after dropping a bottle of salad cream. And the advent of electric toothbrushes didn’t come quick enough for Fulham legend Alan Mullery, who once put his back out overzealously tending to his gnashers and consequently missed England’s tour of the Americas in 1964. After falling out of Alf Ramsey’s favour, Mullery didn’t play again for his country until … 1967, missing a certain tournament.
Palmer then will be hoping that this latest setback is just a blip, although missing (at least) Chelsea’s trip to Burnley and key games against Barcelona and Arsenal next week is hardly ideal for Enzo Maresca and co. “He is not available for tomorrow for sure, Barcelona for sure or Arsenal for sure,” sighed the Italian. “Unfortunately, he had an accident at home where he hit his toe. He won’t be back next week. It’s fractured.” Maresca went on. “I wake up many times in the night to go to the toilet,” he added, perhaps a little superfluously. “I hit my head and leg and everything. It can happen. He was very close [to returning]. He was back with us almost with the groin, which is very good news, but he has this small problem. The only thing we know: he is not available for this week and next week.”
