There is significant confusion over how long Eberechi Eze will be out with his current ankle injury as the player is extremely optimistic while the club’s medical staff are much less so.
The England international was injured in the defeat to Luton Town on 25 November, suffering ankle ligament damage on a nightmare day for the Eagles.
Ligament damage can be relatively minor and very serious and there is a significant disagreement on where this case lies on that scale.
Palace boss Roy Hodgson said over the weekend that Eze thinks he will be back in training this weekend, but the club’s medical team expect him to be out for a ‘long period of time’.
‘The update is a little bit up in the air because Eze is seemingly of the opinion that he will get over this injury quickly and be back before you can say, “Jack Robinson”, whereas the medical staff think he will be out for a long period of time,’ Hodgson said.
‘I know what I want, but I don’t know what I’m going to get. I think he’s going to attempt to train with us over the next couple of days, which is great, that’s extremely positive, but I don’t know quite how optimistic I can be.
‘The medical people are telling me the injury is such that it will take a longer period of time to recover from.’
Palace host Bournemouth on Wednesday evening and it seems very unlikely that Eze will be able to play in that game, but things will become clearer when he has put the injury to the test in training at the start of the week.
Hodgson will be hopeful that Eze is closer to the truth than the medical staff, however unlikely that may seem, with the Eagles winning just one of their last seven Premier League matches.
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