Crystal Palace Boss Roy Hodgson Offers an Injury Update on Mamadou Sakho & Several Other Players

Crystal Palace manager has revealed that Mamadou Sakho has not been set a return date for his calf injury, suggesting it is more complicated than first feared.

The Frenchman sustained the problem against Bournemouth last weekend and had to be withdrawn from the match after just 25 minutes to be replaced by Scott Dann.

Of the summer signing from Liverpool, Hodgson said, as quoted by the club's official website: "It’s far too early to tell - it’s a serious muscle strain or tear. Doctors will not put a timescale on it but it’s going to be a while, that’s for sure."

Sakho is just one of a number of concerns for Palace on the injury front at the moment, as the busy festive period begins to take it's toll.

Manchester United loanee Timothy Fosu-Mensah is due at the club on Thursday for a scan on the hamstring injury he sustained against Watford on Tuesday, and Joel Ward is still struggling with a groin issue picked up against West Brom.

Defender Damien Delaney has undergone an operation, but has been deemed to be 'recovering well', which could be timely given the situation of Sakho.

Palace have slowly but surely been improving under Hodgson, and are now 18th in the table after some positive results in recent weeks - but it remains to be seen how they will fare without a number of first team players.