Crystal Palace have been dealt an injury blow, with Michael Olise suffering another hamstring injury which will rule him out of Thursday’s FA Cup third-round tie against Everton.
Olise missed the first three months of the season because of a hamstring injury sustained in June with France Under-21s, only returning to action in mid-November.
The winger has since hit a rich vein of form, scoring four goals in his last four Premier League matches, but he has now been sidelined again.
“As you probably saw in the game against Brentford, Michael Olise had to come off right at the end,” Hodgson told Palace’s official website. “He felt his hamstring with the last kick he made of the game. Unfortunately for us, he won’t take part in this game.
Olise's second goal v Brentford
Yeah, don't let him run at you like that...#CPFC pic.twitter.com/wi87yMMnzE
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) December 31, 2023
“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.
“We’re hoping that this one is going to be nothing like the one that put him out 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.”
Latest blow for Palace attack
Palace’s attack has been repeatedly hit by injuries this season, to the extent that their two goalscorers in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Brentford - Olise and Eberechi Eze - have only been able to start four matches together.
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“They’re excellent, the pair of them,” said Hodgson. “Olise’s performance in particular, even against Chelsea in the game before, was the type of performance, even as a coach of great experience, you’d happily pay great money to watch.
“We were delighted with him and for him in that game, and even sadder he’s going to face a period on the sidelines. We hope that period won’t be for too long.
“Ebere Eze has had a season which has, to some extent, been hampered by injuries, one very big one (hamstring) and one slightly less so (ankle), but it’s good to see him back and looking to regain his top form.
“There’s no doubt that all teams, whether they’re fighting to win the league or fighting to stay in the league, need their best players, and there’s no doubt that those two are very much in that category.”
Eze's goal v Brentford
Ebs getting involved 🥰#CPFC pic.twitter.com/9P4Tbv5buI
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) December 31, 2023
Palace lie 14th in the Premier League table, six points above the relegation zone, and are next in Premier League action on Saturday 20 January when they visit Arsenal.
