Maresca says Chelsea are over-reliant on Palmer

Enzo Maresca has challenged his misfiring Chelsea squad to step up during a lean spell for Cole Palmer, admitting "we rely on Cole for everything”.The England attacking midfielder has scored 14 goals and provided six assists in the Premier League this season but his last goal was in mid-January and he last set up a goal on December 1.Chelsea, just two points behind runaway leaders Liverpool in mid-December, have slipped to seventh in the table after three defeats in their past four games, though they are just one point behind fourth-placed Manchester City.Maresca, preparing his team to host rock-bottom Southampton today, said he was not worried about Palmer’s dip in form."I’m not concerned about Cole because Cole is a human being and during the season he can have some moments where he struggles a little bit more,” he told reporters on Monday."The problem with Cole is probably that we rely on Cole for everything and I said since we started that we need to rely on the team. For sure we need big players, top players like Cole, but we are not worried about Cole at all.”He added: "Every game we expect from him a goal or assist. It’s difficult, he’s a human being, he’s a player. At this moment, probably his performance also reflects a little bit the team performance."We struggle to score goals and we need to be a little bit more clinical when we get the chances.”The Italian, in his first season at Stamford Bridge, remains upbeat over Chelsea’s form as they chase a Champions League place."Even against Villa (a 2-1 defeat on Saturday), I think the identity was there,” he said."The way we play on the ball and off the ball was there, very similar to what we are doing during the season."So the identity is there. I said after Aston Villa game, in this moment I have the feeling that winning one, we can have a good run again and we can build a good momentum again. That is what I think in this moment the players need.”Chelsea centre back Trevoh Chalobah will be out of action for at least a week after picking up an injury during the loss at Aston Villa, Maresca said.Chalobah’s absence adds to seventh-placed Chelsea’s long injury list with Nicolas Jackson, Noni Madueke, Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana missing Saturday’s trip to Villa. "He had a check yesterday and he will be around one week to 10 days,” Maresca said."On one side it is good because it is not an important injury but on the other side it is a shame because we lose another player at this moment with the amount of injuries that we had.”An error by goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen led to Villa scoring a late second goal, handing Chelsea their third straight loss in all competitions. Maresca said he still had faith in Jorgensen as his number one keeper. "He feels a little bit sad and upset because he recognises it was a mistake but overall he is okay,” the manager added.Maresca said Chelsea, who are just a point below fourth-placed Manchester City, will face a stiff test against Southampton despite them being bottom of the league."I don’t trust games like this; they can be tricky games. If you watch the game against Manchester United away they were winning 1-0 until the last five minutes,” he said. "It’s a tricky one and from now on, every game, every team is playing for something so they are all going to be tough.”Former Leicester City manager Maresca said Chelsea had improved but needed to pick up some positive results to build momentum. "When you are at Chelsea, I don’t think you have games you don’t prepare to win. Our duty is to prepare for every game to win. From now on we have 12 games to go and no doubt all of them are must-win for us,” he said.