Roy Hodgson has hinted that Jean-Philippe Mateta could keep his place as Crystal Palace’s starting striker despite Odsonne Edouard's return from injury.
Mateta has started all of the Eagles’ last four games while fellow Frenchman Edouard has been out with a knee injury, and scored against both Liverpool and Manchester City shortly before Christmas. Edouard has now returned.
It had looked as though Mateta would leave the club in January — possibly with Paris Saint-Germain’s Hugo Ekitike coming the other way — but he is now unlikely to be sold, given that Palace are just six points above the relegation zone and the market for strikers is currently saturated.
Edouard could start against Everton in the FA Cup third round on Thursday night, but Hodgson has suggested that Mateta's form may have moved him ahead in the pecking order longer-term.
When Standard Sport claimed that Mateta is currently holding the ball up better than during his last run in the team, Hodgson said: “I certainly agree with that. I think he's made big strides in his game and all credit to him for doing that.
“I mean, the work that we do, and the things that we're asking him to do haven’t changed a great deal. But he himself has improved his game to such an extent that now he's getting accolades like the one that you're giving him.
“He was a really, really important player for us [in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Brentford], and has been over the last two or three games. Odsonne Edouard will have to start playing well himself to give him the competition that Mateta at one stage was giving Edouard.”
