Cole Palmer fractured his little toe by stubbing it on a door at home – the night before he was due to return to Chelsea training after a groin injury which had sidelined him for two months.
Up there with football’s freak accidents, Palmer will now cruelly miss several matches he might otherwise have featured in, including Saturday's trip to Burnley followed by Barcelona in the Champions League and the visit of Premier League leaders Arsenal next weekend.
Palmer was supposed to join team training on Thursday morning but had his mishap on Wednesday night, with Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca revealing how he received a phone call from the club doctor at 11pm to tell him what had happened.