Crystal Palace will be without both Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton until after the November international break, manager Oliver Glasner has confirmed.
Both players were forced off early as the resurgent Eagles followed their long-awaited first Premier League win of the season against London rivals Tottenham with another hard-fought 2-1 victory at Aston Villa in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.
Eze opened the scoring with a quick header at Villa Park before limping off just 10 minutes later with a hamstring injury, and he was quickly followed by England team-mate Wharton as the midfielder continues to deal with the effects of a lingering groin issue.
Glasner has now revealed that Eze will definitely miss Saturday’s visit to Wolves as well as another London derby with Fulham next weekend - also worryingly describing it as “very ambitious” to have him back straight after the upcoming international break.
Palace travel to Villa again in the top-flight on November 23 before games against Newcastle, Ipswich, Manchester City and fierce rivals Brighton precede a Carabao Cup quarter-final showdown away at Arsenal.
“He's injured,” Glasner said of Eze at his pre-Wolves press conference on Friday. “He has a hamstring injury and we will miss him for at least against Wolves and against Fulham. Then we have the international break, and then let’s see, but he will be out for those two games.
“There is hope [he will return after that], but it will be very ambitious to have him back after the international break. I know we have a great medical department and he will work hard, so let’s see.”
Wharton has been bothered all season by a groin injury suffered while away with England at Euro 2024 over the summer and will now undergo surgery to correct the problem, with Palace expecting him to be sidelined for around a month having been stewing on the decision for a number of weeks now.
“We took the final decision he will have surgery so he won’t be available for Wolves,” Glasner said. “He tried [to train] today but there’s too much pain and it makes no sense.
“He’s really struggled the last weeks and months and so now we took the decision he will have surgery, and we hope to have him back after, let’s say, four weeks.”
Eze and Wharton join the likes of Matheus Franca and Chadi Riad in a crowded Palace injury room, while Glasner confirmed that Joel Ward and Jefferson Lerma - who suffered a hamstring injury against Tottenham on Sunday - also remain out after missing the win over Villa in midweek.
“Joel Ward missed the Aston Villa game, but it’s not that serious,” the Austrian said. “He will miss the Wolves game but should be available against Fulham. Jefferson is also out, at least until the international break.”
There was some better news on the injury front for Palace in the imminent return of midfielder Cheick Doucoure ahead of schedule after a month-and-a-half out with a toe problem, while American defender Chris Richards is expected back in training next week.
“Cheick Doucoure will be back in the squad maybe earlier than we expected,” Glasner added. “Of course, we’re missing many players now. For sure, he can’t be at 100 per cent, but it’s important that he’s with us.
“Next week Chris Richards should train with us if everything goes the right way, and that’s the positive news.”
