'He won't be' - Oliver Glasner confirms Crystal Palace injury blow ahead of Aston Villa

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner has confirmed that his side will remain without one of their stars for Tuesday night’s clash with Aston Villa. The Eagles are looking for a quick bounce back after losing to Fulham over the weekend, though they face a tricky test against top four hopefuls Villa.

Villa came from behind to beat Chelsea last time out and are currently in eighth place, just two points off the top four. Meanwhile, they are still in this season’s Champions League.

Palace know they have their work cut out against the Midlands club, but having shown good form over recent months, the Eagles will feel they can pick up a result at home. They won’t get any extra help from a returning Matheus France, though, with the 20-year-old having missed almost the whole season with varying injury issues.

“He won’t be in the squad tomorrow. The reason is that we didn’t really train yesterday – just a group of nine players training, and you can only do training in a small group, today was just activation,” Glasner said ahead of the Villa clash.

“There will be, let’s say, ‘better’ training on Wednesday because we have one more day to the Millwall (FA Cup) game on Saturday. We want to play 11 against 11 (in training) which he especially needs. [After Millwall] we then have a full week again [ahead of the Ipswich game], but then we go to Marbella with a friendly game where he should get minutes.”

Palace have a big break coming up, with a week short of a month between their clash with Ipswich Town on March 8 and their next game, against Southampton, on April 2. That could be an important break for players like Franca.

“It’s not important being back one or two weeks earlier [than expected], it’s important that when you are back, you’re back for the rest of the season. That’s what we take care and know,” Glasner added.

“I have mentioned it quite often – I’m very impatient. All the players are very impatient, and they want more and more, but this is about communicating and explaining things to the players in the best way. He’s been out for almost 10 months now. Mateus himself has to trust us – we want the best for every single player. With all the knowledge and experience of the medical department, rehab staff, fitness team and football/coaching staff we will help him to be back on his best level. This is what we’re telling them, what we are trying to convince them, and, in the end, what we’re doing.”

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