Chelsea didn't force Palmer to withdraw from England duty - Maresca

Enzo Maresca says Cole Palmer wasn't under pressure to withdraw from England after playing 90 minutes for Chelsea either side of an international break he pulled out of.

The 22-year-old was one of nine players, including Blues defender Levi Colwill, who pulled out of England's wins over Greece and Ireland this month.

Three Lions captain Harry Kane recently criticised those who withdrew in an interview with ITV Sport, calling it "a shame" and accusing his compatriots of "taking advantage".

When asked about Kane's comments in relation to Palmer, Maresca said: "It's a shame this week. Obviously I think it's a tough period of the season and maybe there's been a taking advantage of that a little bit. I don't really like it if I'm totally honest... I think England comes before anything."

But when asked about those comments, after the 2-1 win away at Leicester City, the Chelsea manager said: "My reaction is that we finished the game 10 minutes ago, we won 2-1 and the rest, there is not any reaction, there are no comments. We finished the game 10 minutes ago.

"I am not thinking about Harry Kane or what he's saying. I don't have any comments about this."

And when pressed on whether he or Chelsea put pressure on Palmer, he continued: "Me? Absolutely not."

Palmer struggled to excel at the King Power Stadium where Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez proved the match winners, taking a heavy challenge from Wilfred Ndidi in the first half.

But Maresca refused to complain about the incident involving one of his former players, when asked whether it should have resulted in a red card, adding: "I don't think Cole is the target. I don't think that.

"What I think, and I said after the Manchester United game, when there is bad intention, there has to be a different kind of punishment from the referee. I think Man United was bad intention.

"I'm not saying Wilf [Ndidi] was bad intention because I love Wilf. Overall, when there is bad intention, I think the punishment has to be different."

Maresca also confirmed Reece James is soon set for a scan after a hamstring problem and Malo Gusto pulled out of the match through illness overnight, with Pedro Neto picking up a knock on international.