Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta wore a protective helmet against Fulham on Saturday after his ear injury in the FA Cup win against Millwall earlier this month.
Mateta was carried off the pitch in a neck brace just 15 minutes into Palace’s previous FA Cup fifth-round tie with Millwall on March 1 after a collision with goalkeeper Liam Roberts.
The 27-year-old, who was immediately sent to hospital, suffered a lacerated ear, while Roberts was sent off and was given a six-match ban.
Mateta returned to training during the international break but has needed to wear specialist equipment in order to protect his left ear for Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final tie against Fulham.
‘He feels comfortable,’ Palace manager Oliver Glasner said before the game.
‘When he scores a header tomorrow then it was the right mask with the right protection. When I’ve watched JP in training he looks the same like before. He needs to get back into his rhythm, he couldn’t train for two weeks. One week he was just at home then he trained for a week individually.
‘He’s been lucky that nothing was fractured, no concussion. It was just the ear. I know it was a terrible injury. Some players say that the ear looks better than before now.’
Asked if Mateta might be affected mentally by the injury Glasner replied: ‘He did it the whole last two weeks.
‘The doctor and the team did a great job finding the right protection. We tried two or three different ones, everything is approved by the Premier League. If I believed it’s a problem, I wouldn’t play him.’
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