Huge injury scare at Crystal Palace with star forward returning from international break ahead of time

Crystal Palace fans will be hoping for good news after star winger Michael Olise withdrew from the French under-21 team due to a foot injury.

The former Reading man, who has wasted little time in settling into life in south London, made his debut for the France U21s against the Faroe Island on Thursday evening.

However on Sunday afternoon, news had started filtering in that he had to return to London and would not be part of the side that will take on Northern Ireland tonight.

The youngster has been a revelation, not only Eagles fans but the entire Premier League, with his bag of tricks and sublime touches that often leaves opposing defenders chasing shadows.

Having arrived at Selhurst Park with a growing reputation in the Championship, Olise has quickly made space for himself on the right side of attack in the Palace team, and a potential injury would be a massive blow to Patrick Vieira’s side ahead of key games in both the Premier League and FA Cup.

It is not known how serious the injury is, and Palace fans will hope that tests carried out by the medical team on the player’s foot will only reveal a minor problem.

Michael Olise’s impact at Palace

There have been so many positives since Olise’s arrival in South London, to a point that the Crystal Palace fan base have already created a song for him.

He is a proper edge-of-your-seat player and Holmesdale, Palace’s vociferous stand at Selhurst, is often on its feet whenever he is on the ball.

The 20-year-old has scored two goals, provided five assists and is leading the way for chances created by players in the Premier League who have played in 20 or more games.

His development has been credited to his work attitude and desire to be on the ball.

It’s no surprise that despite being capped by the France at under-21 level, there is still a slim chance that he could opt to play for England at senior level.

Olise’s ball retention ability, glide and grace is a delight when he’s in flight and many pundits have tipped him to go to the very top of world football.

Palace’s crucial point of the season

The international break has provided most teams with a breather but straight after will be the business end of the season, and for Palace, a trip to Wembley and the chance to beat last season’s points tally.

Roy Hodgson last season saw the Eagles finish 14th in the league table, with 44 points but had an astonishing -25 goal difference.

With nine games to go, they are 11th in the league table but 10 points short of their overall tally of 44 from last season, and with a healthy +1 goal difference.

Then there is the famous trip to Wembley, where they last visited under Alan Pardew in 2016.