Crystal Palace are sweating over the fitness of Wilfried Zaha after he missed last night’s friendly against England due to injury.
Zaha had been due to play for Ivory Coast at Wembley, but withdrew from the squad after complaining of a hamstring issue.
The winger subsequently underwent scans and they showed he has suffered a grade two hamstring injury, making him a doubt for Crystal Palace’s game against Arsenal in the Premier League on Monday night.
Zaha - who was at Wembley as a spectator on Tuesday night - already saw Palace medical staff yesterday, but will undergo further examinations this week to learn the severity of the injury.
“After the first game [against France], he felt some pain behind in the hamstring,” said Ivory Coast manager Patrice Beaumelle.
“He had a grade one or two injury and because of the schedule of Crystal Palace, I understand the busy schedule, we don’t have to take any risks because if it gets worse it is maybe six weeks or two months out.
“For me he should have played this game for him. It was a dream to play against England, playing in Wembley, London. This is football.
“We will see [how long he is out] with Crystal Palace. I released him to go and have some care with his club.
“I asked him to [then] come with the team. He was so sad because he wanted to play but, for me, a grade two is an injury.
“Imagine we put him in and after five minutes…for what? And it was an opportunity for other players to play as a team, but of course I would have liked him to play with the Elephants.”
In addition to Arsenal, Palace also have an FA Cup semi-final date against London rivals Chelsea looming at Wembley on April 17. Patrick Vieira’s side also face Leicester, Newcastle, Leeds and Southampton during a busy April schedule.
Along with worries over Zaha, fellow Palace winger Michael Olise withdrew from France’s Under-21 squad earlier this week with a foot issue.
