Wilfired Zaha wanted back sooner by Roy Hodgson after injury saw him miss Ivory Coast game
Friday 29 March 2019 16:13, UK
Roy Hodgson admits he would like to have had Wilfried Zaha back earlier from international duty as Crystal Palace prepare to face Huddersfield at home on Saturday.
Zaha travelled to join up with the Ivory Coast squad despite carrying a hamstring strain, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka was also initially called up by England U21s with a similar problem.
Palace are hopeful both players will be available for selection this weekend after training on Friday but Hodgson would have preferred Zaha to have returned sooner once it became clear he was not fit to play in Ivory Coast's 1-0 win over Liberia on Tuesday.
"With these strains that players fear, it's important to take care with hamstring strains, which both of them were feeling, both Wilf and Aaron," said Hodgson.
"I understand Ivory Coast feel they need to check the veracity of our assessment of the situation, so I was always aware he would probably have to go over there.
"But I am disappointed he wasn't allowed to come home a little bit earlier for treatment because here with our treatment facilities and knowing the player, we would have liked him back a bit earlier.
"That's my only disappointment but I don't blame them for asking him to come over to assess the injury in the hope, I suppose, that he would recover in time to play for them."
Despite his concerns, Hodgson is not convinced Zaha would necessarily have more chance of facing Huddersfield if he had been allowed to return sooner.
"It's a job to say," he added when that was put to him.
"One is so careful with hamstring injuries because it is so difficult to know if someone is 100 per cent fit or not, or whether, when they really push themselves to the limit, the strain is going to become a pull and put them out for a longer period of time.
"Everyone will understand the caution we wanted to show going into this important time of the season.
"I'm very grateful to Aidy Boothroyd and the [England] U21s for realising the situation with Aaron and not pushing him to play in the games and give him the chance to get the recovery he needed.
"I can only hope that Wilf being as resilient as he is, that he can deal with the fact he has had to have a journey back and forth to the Ivory Coast.
"Hopefully the couple of days he has back with us will serve him in good stead tomorrow."
Palace go into the game in 14th place in the Premier League and on 33 points, four places and five points above the relegation zone.
Despite that, Hodgson is not convinced a win against Huddersfield at Selhurst Park will prove enough to secure their survival and is instead looking for a target closer to 40 points.
"I would want more than three more points from our remaining eight games, that wouldn't satisfy me particularly," he said.
"I still think that if people are serious about making certain of ensuring relegation isn't a very huge spectre in their thinking, they should be targeting 40 points.
"With our next win, whenever it comes, we will be a bit closer to that but as far as I am concerned there are eight games, with tomorrow the first of them and the first of four home games [before the end of the season]."
