Crystal Palace have lost young defender Nathan Ferguson to a fresh injury blow ahead of facing Tottenham tonight.
The Eagles' Under-21s match against Monaco was Ferguson’s first 90 minutes since January 2022 due to a succession of injury setbacks.
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Hodgson said: “I was really pleased to see him play. I thought he played well. I’ve heard today, however, that he picked up an injury during the course of the game. I don’t know the severity of that injury as yet. I can only hope it’s not going to be another bad one for him.”
However, it since emerged that Ferguson will need surgery on what is believed to be a serious hamstring injury in the latest major blow to the player.
Discussing the fitness levels of the rest of his squad, Hodgson said: “We don’t have so many now out of the question. But we still have Henderson the goalkeeper, Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise, so there quite big names. Add to that James Tomkins, who has picked up a calf strain.
“Otherwise, we have everybody back now and ready to play. Suddenly the situation with regard to selecting the XI and selecting the bench has become quite a different proposition to what it was a few weeks ago.
“He’s [Tomkins] missed a week so far, just over a week. Most of these things take three weeks, so I would think at least a couple of weeks. It’s not a massive strain that is going to keep him out for long periods, as has happened to Eze, Olise and Henderson.”
Confirmed team news
Crystal Palace XI: Johnstone, Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell, Lerma, Doucoure, Hughes, Ayew, Edouard, Schlupp
Subs: Holding, Matheus Franca, Mateta, Clyne, Richards, Ahamada, Matthews, Riedewald, Rak-Sakyi
Tottenham XI: Vicario, Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Davies, Bissouma, Sarr, Kulusevski, Maddison, Richarlison, Son
Subs: Skipp, Hojbjerg, Gil Salvatierra, Emerson, Dier, Lo Celso, Forster, Johnson, Bentancur
Injured: Olise, Eze, Henderson, Tomkins, Ferguson
Date and time: 8pm, Friday October 27, 2023
Venue: Selhurst Park
