Crystal Palace defender Mamadou Sakho has joined the Premier League club’s long injury list with a hamstring problem that could keep him out for a “considerable” period, manager Roy Hodgson said on Friday.
Centre back Sakho pulled his hamstring in Wednesday’s 1-1 league draw with Norwich City, leaving Hodgson with a selection headache ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup third-round meeting with Championship side (second tier) Derby County.
Defenders Patrick van Aanholt (thigh), Scott Dann (leg), Joel Ward (knee) and Jeffrey Schlupp (hip) are all out injured while Gary Cahill is back training following a knee issue.
“It (injury list) has been added to with Sakho pulling his hamstring against Norwich so he’s going to be missing for a considerable period of time,” Hodgson told a news conference.
“Cahill has done his first training session today which is positive, so maybe it’s one in, one out in terms of training.”
Hodgson said forward Wilfried Zaha would miss out due to a knock that he sustained against Norwich.
“Zaha played with an injury and it was touch and go if he was going to be on the field. It would be unlikely if we would do that to him again on Sunday,” Hodgson added.
“We would want to put more resources into the FA Cup if we had them. It’s a great competition but we have to balance what’s available to us with what we can do, take the soundings from our sports science people and weigh the possible risks.”
(Content and photos syndicated via Reuters)