Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner has denied there is anything suspicious about the hamstring injury Eddie Nketiah has suffered.
Nketiah has endured a frustrating start to his Palace career following his £25million deadline day move from Arsenal.
The striker, 25, is yet to score or assist in the Premier League for his new club and has often been played out of position in order to accommodate Jean-Philippe Mateta.
The one-time England international has now suffered a fresh setback, with Glasner confirming reports that he has picked up a hamstring injury and will miss the clash against Fulham on Saturday.
A report from the Daily Mail claims that Palace are ‘investigating’ Nketiah’s injury however, as it was sustained in a training session away from the club’s schedule.
It is said it happened in a private session with a personal performance specialist, something that has ‘deeply concerned’ the Eagles and left them ‘suspicious’.
They are looking to ensure that it does not happen again, with fellow top-flight teams encountering similar problems, including Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham.
But Glasner has claimed that he is to blame for Nketiah’s absence, saying in his pre-match press conference: ‘At [Aston] Villa, Eddie was the guy who was sprinting the most on the pitch in 83 minutes.
‘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.
‘I spoke to him after the game and he said he felt his hamstring. I trust my players. Why should I trust a strange source more than my players.’
An injury to Nketiah is the last thing Palace, who are 17th in the table, need, with their treatment room full to the brim with key players.
Eberechi Eze, Adam Wharton and Jefferson Lerma remain injured but could be back after the international break, while Chadi Riad and Matheus Franca are long-term absentees. Midfielder Will Hughes is also suspended for the visit of the Cottagers.
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