Roy Hodgson will be back in the dugout for Crystal Palace’s match against Fulham on Saturday after recovering from illness but Michael Olise looks set for an extended spell on the sidelines after a setback in his return from a hamstring injury.
Hodgson missed Palace’s 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday after he was taken ill that morning. Paddy McCarthy, the assistant manager, took charge and said the former England manager had been “feeling a little bit under the weather”. Palace confirmed that the 76-year-old, the oldest manager in Premier League history, had returned to work on Tuesday.
There was less encouraging news about Olise. Palace had hoped to have him back by the end of September after an operation on the injury sustained playing for France’s Under-21s at the European Championship in the summer. But the 21-year-old – who signed a new four-year contract last month after turning down a move to Chelsea – is understood to have suffered a new injury last week to the same hamstring that could rule him out until the next international break in mid-October.
Palace are due to face Manchester United in the Carabao Cup next Tuesday and in the Premier League the following Saturday before hosting Nottingham Forest on 7 October.
Olise’s continued absence will be a major blow to Hodgson, who has injury concerns over Marc Guéhi and Jefferson Lerma. The England defender missed the defeat by Villa after aggravating a hip problem in the 3-1 win over Scotland, and Lerma had a scan last week to assess a hamstring injury picked up playing for Colombia.
The new signing Matheus França has yet to feature for Palace since his arrival from Flamengo because of a back injury and Hodgson said last week it could be a while before the Brazilian teenager is in contention. “We hope he will be with us in a couple of weeks in training sessions,” he said. “Then he’s got to get himself match fit.”
