After recovering from illness, Roy Hodgson is back in full-time management at Crystal Palace, but the bad news for the club is that they are still without Olise.
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.
However, there was less good news for Olise. Palace were hoping to have him back at the end of September following surgery on the injury sustained while on loan with France at the European Championship last summer. However, it is understood that Olise, who signed a four-year contract with Palace last month after spurning a move to Chelsea, picked up a fresh injury to the same hamstring last week which could keep him out until the international break at the end of October. Palace have Carabao Cup against Manchester United next Tuesday and a Premier League game against Nottingham Forest on the 7th of October.
Olise’s long-term absence will be a huge blow to manager Hodgson, who is also worried about Marc Guéhi (hamstring) and Jefferson Lerma (hip). Guéhi, an England defender, missed the Villa defeat after aggravating his hip problem during the 3-1 victory over Scotland, while Lerma underwent a scan last week following a hamstring injury sustained while with Colombia. Matheus Franca has yet to make a single appearance since joining Palace from Flamengo due to a back injury, and manager Hodgson revealed last week that the Brazilian teenager is likely to be out of action for a few weeks. “We hope he’ll be with us in training in the next couple of weeks, and then he’ll need to get match fit,” he said.
Crystal Palace winger set for extended injury spell
Crystal Palace forward Michael Olise has had a setback in his rehabilitation from hamstring surgery after sustaining a grade three tear during France’s U21 European Championship victory over Norway in June. The forward, who turned 21 last month, had to undergo surgery on his hamstring after returning to Selhurst Park following a lengthy lay-off. He turned down Chelsea’s advances in the summer to sign a new contract with the Eagles, but is now set to spend an extended period of time on the
sidelines after another setback in his comeback. He had been posting videos on social media as he worked his way back to full fitness, having become the first Palace player to rack up double-digit assists in a single Premier League season after registering just six in the previous campaign under Roy Hodgson.
