Alonso tells Cole Palmer to ignore England snub and 'deliver' for Chelsea

England manager Thomas Tuchel again overlooked the 24-year-old when naming his squad on Friday for the Nations League matches against Croatia and Spain.

Tuchel previously criticised Palmer for missing too many opportunities to represent England after the forward withdrew from the squad through injury in September.

The Chelsea attacker was also left out of England's 2026 FIFA World Cup squad and has made only five international appearances since scoring in the Euro 2024 final defeat against Spain.

Palmer has shown flashes of his quality this season, scoring five goals and providing three assists in 11 appearances across all competitions.

However, his Premier League form has been inconsistent. He has not scored from open play in the competition since August and was sent off during Chelsea's 2-0 defeat against Tottenham last month.

Alonso remains satisfied with what Palmer brings to his team and believes his immediate priority should be helping Chelsea maintain their progress.

"I'm very happy with his quality, attitude and the impact he's having on the rest of the team," the Chelsea manager said.

"We speak about Chelsea, we have enough on our plate. We have to focus each weekend and that's what I can impact and talk about."

Alonso added that Palmer should concentrate on enjoying his football rather than becoming distracted by his international situation.

"He needs to focus on playing good football and enjoy playing with Chelsea," he said.

The Spaniard confirmed that he had spoken to Palmer about his dismissal against Tottenham but stressed that their discussions have largely centred on football and improving the team's performances.

Chelsea, who are fourth in the Premier League, could also receive a boost ahead of Sunday's trip to Sunderland, with goalkeeper Emi Martinez closing in on a return.

The Argentine has been recovering from a fractured jaw suffered three weeks ago but has been cleared to play wearing a protective face mask.

Alonso confirmed that Martinez had trained for most of the week but admitted the equipment would take some getting used to.

"It is not the most comfortable thing," he said. "He's been training almost the whole week with it and for a certain period of time he'll have to deal with it."

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