Crystal Palace key men missing for Leeds United match

Vicente Guaita and Wilfried Zaha will both be missing for Crystal Palace’s away match at Leeds United on Sunday.

Zaha was forced off in last weekend’s 2-1 Premier League win over Leicester City with a groin issue.

And Hodgson confirmed in his press conference today that goalkeeper Guaita will also be unavailable for the trip to Elland Road.

“It’s a groin strain,” said the former Fulham and England boss, when asked about Zaha’s situation. “We are going to have to look after him. He is having treatment but I’m hopeful that by some time by the end of the month we’ll be able to welcome him back. Doctors and physios, as you well know, won’t put a timescale on it.

“It’s always hard to cope without a player of Wilf’s calibre. That’s not just us – that’s any team in the league and whatever league you care to name.

“We’re lucky that in Jordan Ayew and JP Mateta we have two very good forwards as well who are busting at the seams to get on to the field and show what they can do. This will be a very good opportunity for them, at least against Leeds and possibly one or two of the other games going forward.

“The double whammy was that Vicente Guaita brought up the subject of his calf at half-time, he was feeling it after a sprint. Unfortunately he also has a similar degree of calf strain, so we are without both of them for the game against Leeds and we have to see how quickly our doctors can get them back on the field of play.

“The only other two are the ones we’ve had for a couple of weeks now. Chris Richards actually did join in with training today, which is positive, and Nathan Ferguson, who we expect to see back next week. Those two can’t be considered for the game against Leeds but they are not that far away now.”

PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD