Crystal Palace will be without Wilfried Zaha and Luka Milivojevic this evening against Newcastle United in the Premier League.
The Eagles welcome the Magpies to Selhurst Park as they go in search of a win but will have to do so without the talented Zaha, who remains in isolation.
Quoted by the official Palace website, Hodgson had this to say:
“He’s still got to serve out the period of isolation. That will take him I think to Saturday when he’ll be tested again and we’re hoping that will come back negative. He’s been feeling okay, which is often the case when people test positive.”
Meanwhile, midfielder Milivojevic is back in training after his own period away from the squad but Hodgson has said that he will not be fit enough to feature later on against United.
He explained:
“I’m certainly expecting him to be fit the next time we play but not tomorrow [Friday] night.”
In more positive news, meanwhile, Hodgson did confirm that no further fitness issues had hit the squad, “we don’t have any new injury news,” he confirmed.
Rush Football’s take
Palace are naturally a weaker side without Zaha and they missed him dearly last time out against Burnley as the Clarets won 1-0.
It’s an issue that has blighted Palace during the time the winger has been at the club and it’s up to the likes of Ebere Eze and Andros Townsend tonight to try and fill the void.
Newcastle will certainly be hard to break down tonight with Steve Bruce having them organised and so finding that creative spark without Zaha will be key for the Eagles tonight.
