Crystal Palace boss confirms injury-hit defender set to travel for mid-season friendly

BY ANDREW MCSTEEN

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner has confirmed that Nathan Ferguson is expected to travel with the squad to Spain for the mid-season friendly against Bodo/Glimt.

Ferguson, then 19, moved to South London as a free agent after his contract expired at West Bromwich Albion, a club he joined as an eight year old.

Since then, the defender has only managed an 82nd substitute first-team appearance for the Eagles, on Boxing Day 2021, but this week he returned to action after another period out with injury, coming on as a 62nd-minute substitute for the U21s in their Premier League 2 Division 1 victory against Stoke City at the bet365 Stadium.

Ferguson picked up a serious hamstring injury last October playing for Darren Powell’s U21 side against Monaco in the Premier League International Cup, a match he was playing in to step up his return to the first team after suffering a hamstring problem he picked up towards the end of last season.

However, with more than 30 minutes of action under his belt this week without apparent issue, the former England U18, U19 and U20 player will now travel with the first team squad to Spain on Monday where they will undertake a training camp and face Norwegian champions FK Bodo/Glimt in a mid-season behind-closed-doors friendly in Marbella on Thursday (14 March).

“We’ve talked about him and I know about his past, about his many injuries,” said the Palace manager,

“He did well now he came back, he’s a good player but now it’s important [for him] to stay fit, to stay healthy and then he can show all his qualities.

“We will help him and we will support him that he stays fit now and then will be the moment where we speak about him. We will also take some players from the under 21s with us to Spain and also then in the national team break, and I think he will be one of them.”