Crystal Palace injury list ‘moving in the right direction’, says Roy Hodgson

BY SAM SMITH

Roy Hodgson has insisted that Crystal Palace’s lengthy list of absentees is finally easing after a torrid few months of injuries as the South Londoners prepare to face West Bromwich Albion tomorrow.

The Eagles have been without Mamadou Sakho (thigh) and James Tomkins (eye) since the turn of the year. James McArthur has missed the last eight matches with a calf injury. James McCarthy limped off during the draw with Manchester United on March 3 with a groin issue.

Full-backs Nathaniel Clyne and Tyrick Mitchell are also absent.  However, Palace have had Jeffrey Schlupp and Wilfried Zaha return in the last few weeks.

Hodgson was asked if his squad’s injury list had seen any changes since Sunday’s 4-1 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur. He said: “No, unfortunately not. Fortunately there have been none added to the list either, so that is positive. The ones who have been missing are still missing.

“Our centre-halves (Mamadou Sakho and James Tomkins) have been out for months now, Tyrick Mitchell hasn’t recovered yet. The two midfield players, McArthur and McCarthy [are out]. That’s where our injury list stands at the moment. The good news is that one or two who have been out for a long time are now fit and able to take part again. Things are moving in the right direction for us.

“I’m really rather hoping that after this match – we have a three-week break as you all probably know – with the period of time that we have now, we will see a good number of those players back again – in particular Nathaniel, Tyrick and the the two Maccas. I don’t know if that will be too early for the centre-halves.”

There was also good news for long-term absentees Wayne Hennessey and Nathan Ferguson. The Wales international had been missing since October due to a thigh strain while Ferguson is yet to play a competitive game of football since January 2020 having suffered serious knee and thigh injuries.

Hennessey has featured for the U23s in recent weeks – including in today’s 2-1 defeat against Reading.

Hodgson said: “He (Hennessey) has been back for a while now. He’s been working very hard, he had to be eased into it after such a massive injury problem.

“Thanks to the medical staff and the work they did, they put him back onto the field to work with (goalkeeper coach) Dean Kiely at the right time. He’s come through all of that perfectly well.

“He’s absolutely fully fit and it’s good that he got a chance to play in this game and maybe one more U23s game before he has to leave and go and play for Wales. When he gets there with that group for the international matches, he will be as ready as he ever was.

“Next week, he (Ferguson) will continue with the U23s but that has gone well so far – he has showed no symptoms whatsoever of any recurrence of either the knee injury or the thigh injury.

“As long as that continues well over the next week, as I expect it to do, I will be expecting him to come and join us for the last two weeks before we play again, which will be part of the international break. His progress is very encouraging, I’m very pleased for him. He’s done a good job and the medical staff have done a good job to make certain that when he comes and joins us, he should be fully fit and ready to go.”