Cole Palmer has sent a message to Chelsea fans after he blanked yet again in the 4-0 win over Premier League bottom club Southampton.
The Blues thrashed the Saints at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday with goals from Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto, Levi Colwill and Marc Cucurella.
Palmer, though, was unable to conjure up a goal or assist for the sixth Premier League game in a row, with the Chelsea superstar in worrying form and missing several big chances throughout the match.
Despite his drought, Palmer remains Chelsea’s most important attacking player, having produced 14 goals and six assists in 27 games this season.
Palmer has now addressed his latest blank on social media, uploading a photo of himself on his Instagram story after Enzo Maresca’s side beat 20th-placed Southampton to move back into the Premier League top four.
‘Well done lads +3,’ Palmer wrote underneath the image, which shows him looking in deep thought at full-time in his Chelsea kit.
‘Don’t worry I will be back.’
Football pundit and Chelsea fan Paul Merson believes Nicolas Jackson’s absence has played a significant role in Palmer’s dip in form.
Jackson is currently ruled out with a hamstring injury and has missed Chelsea’s last three top-flight games, with the striker replaced by Nkunku.
‘They miss Jackson,’ Merson told Sky Sports. ‘Palmer makes Jackson and Jackson makes Palmer.
‘People will go don’t be silly Palmer’s an unbelievable player but you’re only as good as the players you’re playing in front of you.
‘He’s got no movement so what happens is if Jackson doesn’t make those runs, he’s a willing player who stretches the game then Palmer comes in and gets the ball.
‘Now Nkunku comes short, Palmer comes short and everything just closes up.’
Chelsea head coach Maresca was quizzed about Palmer’s drought after the 4-0 win over Southampton.
‘He has to continue to work, continue to be happy, continue to laugh the way he does,’ Maresca told the BBC.
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‘It is normal to go through a moment where you struggle to score but it doesn’t matter. Just continue and you are going to score many goals.’
Palmer produced a remarkable 22 goals and 11 assists across 33 games last season for Chelsea after joining the club from Manchester City, breaking a record set by legendary attacker Eden Hazard.
Maresca, though, has insisted people ‘cannot expect’ the 22-year-old England international to stay at that level all of the time.
Speaking on TNT Sports, the Italian boss added: ‘You have here [on the punditry panel] former players who have all been big players and all of them went through some bad moments.
‘It’s normal. It’s like a team. You cannot expect Cole Palmer, every season or every game, to be like last season or like the first part of the season. It’s normal, it’s something normal.
‘He’s a human being, he’s missing some things and now it’s how we react. So I was telling him that [on the pitch at full-time]. Everything is normal. He’s happy, he’s okay.’