Oliver Glasner confirms Crystal Palace injury hammer blow ahead of Fulham clash

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner has revealed a major new blow for his side as they prepare to face Fulham on Saturday in an all-London Premier League clash. Palace are now outside the bottom three, and they look as though they are improving after a disappointing start to the season.

But they face a huge test this weekend with Fulham in town, with the Cottagers currently ninth after a superb start to the season under Marco Silva. With London bragging rights also up for grabs, Palace will be eyeing a second win of the season here, but they will not be helped by a slate of injuries to key players.

Palace boss Glasner told the club website: “We have suffered several injuries. Let’s start with the long-term: Chadi Riad and [Matheus] França are still out. Then it’s Eberechi Eze who is still out, Adam Wharton after his surgery is still out, Jefferson Lerma is still out, and Eddie Nketiah is out with a hamstring injury. Will Hughes is suspended with his fifth yellow card, so it’s quite a tight squad.”

The Eagles boss added: “At Villa, Eddie was the guy who was sprinting the most on the pitch in 83 minutes,” he explained. “I think it’s my mistake: it’s my fault that I didn’t substitute him earlier in the Wolves game, because he was sprinting again.

“In the Wolves and the Tottenham games, we were the number one in high intensity runs in the Premier League. I think I should have subbed him a little bit earlier. He felt it during the game, something in his hamstring, but he was fighting for the team until almost the end of the game. Now he has problems with his hamstring, and let’s see how long it will take."

Palace will have a huge void in the midfield with both Wharton and Lerma out, while they creativity has taken a huge blow with the absences of Eze, Hughes and Nketiah.