Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson delivers assessment on first Premier League starts for Matheus Franca and Adam Wharton

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson said summer signing Matheus Franca was a threat for his side during their 3-1 late defeat at home to Chelsea on Monday night.

The Brazilian attacker was making his first Premier League appearance for the club since signing from Flamengo in the summer.

Franca, 19, had three shots and came close to doubling Palace’s lead in the 75th minute when he dribbled towards the edge of the box and forced a save from Djordje Petrovic.

Franca played 84 minutes – the longest he has featured for Palace in a competitive outing – before being replaced by Odsonne Edouard.

Adam Wharton, who joined on deadline day in the January transfer window from Blackburn, made his first Premier League start for the club.

He made his debut last weekend in the 4-1 defeat at Brighton as a first-half substitute.

Wharton made 31 passes – joint most of any Palace player along with Tyrick Mitchell – and also had the most touches, 47, for Hodgson’s side against the Blues.

“It was a difficult start for Adam,” said Hodgson.

“I thought in the first 15-20 minutes, it was obviously very quick. You’re playing against players in there where the combined value of the two central midfield players is about £225million and he’s just come from Blackburn in the Championship.

“He found it a little bit difficult to find his feet, but once he did midway through the first half, he played extremely well.

“He was definitely one of our better players.

“Matheus was every bit a threat that we hoped he would be, taking over the Michael Olise role, if you like, of being the man who would threaten from the wide areas.”