Roy Hodgson expects injured Michael Olise to miss the start of the new season.
The young star suffered a tear to his hamstring while playing for France at last month’s Under-21s Euros, and has since undergone surgery.
It’s a blow for both player and club, with Olise’s best football last season coming once Hodgson returned caretaker manager for Crystal Palace’s final ten games of the season.
“We’ve known since the injury that it’s going to take a while for him to get fit again”, Hodgson revealed. “It was a serious injury which required an operation. He’s well into his rehabilitation but it’s going to take a bit longer for him to recover.
“At the moment we’re just hoping that the rehabilitation will go well and that we get him back as quickly as possible. But we certainly we won’t be seeing him for a period of time.”
Having lost to Barnet and drawn 2-2 with Danish side Brondby, Palace face Crawley Town in their latest pre-season friendly on Wednesday evening. The levels then ramp up a notch with a match against Watford on Saturday.
Palace then head to the USA, where they face Colombia’s Millonarios, then Sevilla and finally Lyon in three final high-profile friendlies.
“Enormously difficult”, Hodgson said of the tour of America. “We’ve got four games to really prepare what I’m thinking will be the team which will take us through the league season. That will start when we play Watford on Saturday in a behind-closed-doors game.
“Those last three games, I’m expecting to test out the players that are going to be testing out the team for the league.”
One player certain to feature heavily for Palace next season is Eberechi Eze, who excelled under Hodgson, earning his England debut in last month’s 4-0 Euro 2024 qualifying win over Malta.
“I was really delighted for him, and happy also that Gareth [Southgate] and Steve [Holland] thought he was the right man”, Hodgson said.
“I think he fully deserved it after his performances at the end of last year in particular. I thought his debut was a good one, so it’s good to have another England international in our ranks.”
