Cole Palmer has apologised to Xabi Alonso and his Chelsea team-mates after he was sent off during Saturday’s defeat by Tottenham.

The Blues were trailing 1-0 in the second half when Palmer was shown a pair of yellow cards in quick succession for a clash with Mateus Fernandes and a stamp on Conor Gallagher.

Chelsea’s evening had already been deteriorating but promptly unravelled when they went down to ten men, and they eventually lost 2-0 after Mathys Tel’s solo effort.

Speaking at full-time, Alonso resolved to speak with Palmer about his growing discipline issues, and delivered an update on their conversation on Tuesday.

"We spoke,” he confirmed. “He knows the mistake he made.

“It's things he can avoid. Let's hope it's not going to be repeated. He's mature. It was a mistake.”

Geovany Quenda endured a difficult debut

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Pressed as to whether Palmer’s red card had damaged his cachet in the Chelsea squad, Alonso added: "His team-mates know how special he is."

Alonso’s selection and tactics against Tottenham have been widely questioned. With Joao Pedro injured, he shifted Morgan Rogers to centre-forward and deployed Premier League debutant Geovany Quenda as a No10 in behind him, leaving both Danny Welbeck and Estevao on the bench.

Alonso sidestepped the question when asked whether he regretted his selection, simply saying: “We were not happy with the result, with the performance. It was a big game and there were many things that could have gone better.

“Details as well that were important. Reflection, but we moved on and now the focus is just on Liverpool.”

He added that he hopes Chelsea can become more efficient in possession: “What I want is to win the game. I want that we are better with the ball. I think that we can do better and we were not at our best. It's not that significant.

“The possession can be 60%, it can be 40%, 30% as long as you create chances and you have chances to score goals and win games. That's the most important.”