Crystal Palace boss gives Matheus Franca update as attacker ‘prepares for more minutes’ in injury return

BY MITCHELL HALL

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner gave an update on the return of young attacker Matheus Franca from his long spell out with a persistent groin injury.

Franca has barely featured for Crystal Palace since his move from Flamengo in the summer of 2023 due to a series of injuries.

Glasner confirmed that the club are trying to ramp up his minutes to get him game-ready as soon as possible, but said that he would not be in the squad for the game against Everton, instead featuring in the U-21s’ game against Aston Villa on Monday.

“We will stick to our usual plan now,” said Glasner. “He trained here all week and was very good and we talked to him today, he won’t be in the squad tomorrow, he will be preparing for more minutes on Monday with our U-21s.

“We always have a target for minutes, with Adam Wharton it was 45 minutes at Doncaster, he played 60 and he wanted to play more.

“I would say it will be quite similar, at least 45 minutes as well. You do not always know if a game is going to be very intense, up and down, if so maybe 45 is enough. When it is not that intense, maybe 60 is possible, so this is the plan.”

Franca’s time at the club has been heavily marred by injury since he joined from Brazil as a teenager, and Glasner says he deserves credit for his mentality in this difficult period.

“Franca is a very nice guy,” said Glasner. “It is the same when I talk about being here for one year, it is the same with him.

“He had ups and downs, feeling better and better, he was thinking now ‘I am just short of my comeback’ and then he had a setback and he went down again.

“He had great support here from everyone at the club and especially from the medical team because they work with him often, for hours and hours, and he also tries to stay positive which is a big credit to him.

“Most of the time it has worked, and sometimes we all have days where we are not in the best situation, especially when you are injured for a long time.

“You do not want to ask him every day ‘how are you’ over and over, he is going to say ‘come on I told you yesterday,’ so you leave it a few days and encourage him again.”

PICTURE: ALAMY