Michael Olise is out until April (Picture: Getty Images)
Michael Olise is set to be out for ‘at least two months’ due to the hamstring injury he suffered in Crystal Palace’s defeat to Brighton over the weekend.
Olise didn’t start the game against the Seagulls as he wasn’t fully fit, but was thrown on at half-time with Palace already 3-0 down.
Just nine minutes later the winger pulled up with a hamstring problem and had to go off, with the Eagles going on to lose 4-1 on a nightmare afternoon for Roy Hodgson.
The Daily Mail report that Olise was initially expected to be out for 6-8 weeks, but things could be even worse and he now faces a ‘minimum’ of two months out of action.
Crystal Palace will clearly be hoping that his rehabilitation goes better than expected and he can be involved again sooner than that, but after the nature of his injury against Brighton they will be cautious about rushing him back.
The 22-year-old has been superb when he has been involved this season but it has been a frustrating campaign with multiple injury set-backs.
The former Reading star has started just eight Premier League matches, with 11 top flight appearances in total, scoring six goals.
Roy Hodgson is having a very difficult spell as Crystal Palace boss (Picture: Getty Images)
Hodgson is also without one of his other star names in Eberechi Eze, who is also dealing with a hamstring problem, although it is unclear how long the England international will be out for.
‘We think that the damage is not quite as bad as we feared it might be, but it still could be bad,’ Hodgson said in a slightly mysterious injury update on Eze.
‘He faces a spell on the sidelines – there is no doubt about that.’
Marc Guehi was also forced off during the defeat to Brighton with a knee problem, but Palace are yet to confirm the severity of the issue, with hopes that the centre-back will not be out for as long.
The Eagles are back in action on Monday night when they host Chelsea in the Premier League. They will remain without Cheick Doucoure and Rob Holding as well, but hope to have Joel Ward back in contention.
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