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Wilfried Zaha so important to Crystal Palace, says Roy Hodgson

Manager also says reports he wants to sell Christian Benteke are not true

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Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson considers Wilfried Zaha to be 'one their own' despite speculation about his future.

Roy Hodgson says he wants to keep Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha and the player is not thinking about leaving.

Zaha has been a key player for Palace with the team six points clear of the relegation zone with four games to play.

Hodgson said: "He's such an important player for Crystal Palace, he's a player that we regard as our own, so of course we'd like to keep him.

"To the simple question 'would we at Crystal Palace like Wilfried Zaha to stay?' then of course the answer is 'yes' and he has four years on his contract so let's hope that will be sufficient.

"Wilfried certainly shows no sign of having any other thoughts other than helping his club to get through these last four games and still be in the Premier League this season.

"Transfer speculation will always be rife, there's no doubt about that, there will always be suggestions that this and that player is on the move. We can do nothing about that."

Christian Benteke has scored just two goals for Crystal Palace this season
Image: Christian Benteke has scored just two goals for Crystal Palace this season

Hodgson also denied reports he was looking to sell striker Christian Benteke who cost them £32m but had failed to find form.

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"I can quite categorically state that there's been no discussions in the club about Benteke leaving.

"I don't know where those reports have come from. We've had no discussions. Christian's got a contract with the club as well.

"We're hoping that he will find the form that he showed in the last period between January and the summer. He's left it a little bit late of course, but we still hope that' he'll find that form and play an important part in us staying up."

Hodgson also revealed defender Jeffrey Schlupp is back in training but unlikely to be involved in this Saturday's Premier League match at Watford.

"It is great news because it's much earlier than we expected him to be able to train so that's very positive.

"But it's probably a bit close to think about including him on the game on Saturday, it's not out of the question, but in an ideal world, I'd like him to have at least another week's training before we throw him back into the frame."

Hodgson took over Palace after they lost their opening four League matches this season.

With the club six points above the bottom three, the manager feels they could have been all but safe with a bit more fortune.

"The team has played quite well and we have lifted ourselves out of the bottom three on our playing performances.

"Had we had a little more luck and a few less injuries we might have even got ourselves further away from the bottom three.

"If we are going to survive it will be because we get more points from these last four games."

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