Crystal Palace will be without Michael Olise for the foreseeable future, starting with Thursday's FA Cup third-round clash with Everton, due to injury.
The young forward, who has four goals and an assist in his previous four game, was forced off late on against Brentford - after scoring twice - and has now been ruled out of the visit of the Toffees.
It is a huge blow for Palace, who have also lost fellow forward Jordan Ayew to Africa Cup of Nations duty.
Hodgson told reporters on Wednesday: “As you probably saw in the game against Brentford, Michael Olise had to come off right at the end. He felt his hamstring with the last sprint he made of the game. Unfortunately for us, he won’t take part in this game.
“We’ll have to nurse him through and hope he gets back as soon as possible. For how long is he out? I can’t answer that one I’m afraid.”
Asked about Olise's reaction to the injury, Hodgson admitted the 22-year-old was upset by the setback. He said: "[His character] is good. We’re hoping that this one is going to be nothing like the one that put him out of the game for as near as six months. We don’t think or hope it’s going to be like that.
“It is another little setback that I’m sure he and we would not have liked. After his last two performances, which were so good, we were hoping he’d be stepping out tomorrow and treating us again to another great exhibition of football.
“He’s a bit upset that that can’t happen and as are we, but let’s not put too much of a dampener on what’s going to happen going forward. There’s plenty of games left to play in this season, we’ve got another 18 league matches to play, and we’re hoping he’s going to be there to help us.”
