The England midfielder was forced off inside the final 20 minutes due to injury.
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It was claimed the decision was made due to goalkeeper Robert Sanchez's early red card, but afterwards, Maresca said: "Cole tried this morning, he had a test this morning to play this game, he was not 100 per cent fit, he made a fantastic effort to play this game, but he was not 100 per cent.
"He did this morning a test, he wanted to play this game for the team, to be close, so the effort has been huge from him.
"But then after 20 minutes he started to feel something, so we decided to change him."