C rystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha will be assessed before Sunday's Premier League clash at Everton after sustaining a muscle strain on international duty last week. Zaha, who played in Ivory Coast's 4-0 win against Central African Republic last Friday, returned to the club earlier than expected and is yet to resume full training. "It's good news that he's close enough to be assessed, to see if he is fit enough to play," manager Roy Hodgson told reporters. "If he is able to train tomorrow I guess he could be available to play." Reports had suggested that Zaha, who is Palace's top scorer this season with three of their five league goals, could be out for up to two months. Zaha is currently being assessed by Palace's medical staff. / Getty Images "You're taking me into areas of sport science I don't feel comfortable talking about," Hodgson added. "I don't know where the information that this is a two-month injury came from, but we've never been mindful that it would take such a long time. "It's a strain which players get on a fairly regular basis and some recover quicker than others. Wilf is a quicker than normal recoverer but it'll depend on the extent of the injury whether he is a possibility to recover or not." In Pictures | Crystal Palace vs Wolves | 06/10/2018 1 /13 In Pictures | Crystal Palace vs Wolves | 06/10/2018 Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images REUTERS REUTERS REUTERS REUTERS REUTERS REUTERS Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images<doc-sep>Roy Hodgson admits it could be a blessing for his Crystal Palace side that their game against Everton is on Sunday this weekend. The Eagles travel to face the Toffees at Goodison Park on Sunday as the Premier League returns after the second international break of the season, with Palace looking to end a run of three games without a win. But Palace have a number of late decisions to make ahead of the game, with Wilfried Zaha set to be assessed tomorrow (Saturday) after returning home from international duty with a muscle strain. He is likely to be involved in training tomorrow ahead of Palace's trip to Everton, and Hodgson has admitted that he will take into account the views of Palace's talisman, together with the medical staff, before making a final call on the Ivory Coast international. "You think about all those things, especially if the player plays an important position in the team and maybe has an important role to play in the team, you maybe give that person the largest amount of time you can give him," he said. "I am not 100 per cent a fan of thinking if he is not fit to play he could be fit to start on the bench. That, basically speaking, seems to me to be a contradiction in terms. "I don't have hard and fast rules. It is a discussion with the players and in particular with the medical department - and we have a very good one that I trust implicitly - and of course the sports science department for their thoughts on the matter. "I have to listen to their thoughts and I have to listen to the player and how he feels about the situation, and we take each case as it comes. And the more important the player, the more inclined you are to hang on and hope for a miracle recovery." But Hodgson admits that had the game been tomorrow (Saturday) it would probably have come too soon for Zaha, and Max Meyer and Alexander Sorloth, who have both been suffering with a virus this week. "Any advance to be gained is that those players coming back from international duty get that extra day and with one or two players suffering from a virus, it might help us," he said. "Had the game been tomorrow, it might have been harder for us to get those players fit to play." And he says another consideration for Palace is the fitness of the other players returning from international duty, including the likes of Cheikhou Kouyate, who has travelled to Senegal and Sudan for African Cup of Nations qualifiers over the international break. "The international break is the same for all clubs and managers. Most clubs have players who do travel, and you do take that into consideration," he said. "You hope they come back and say the games went well and they are fit and have no feeling of fatigue or other problem, but you have to be aware that the travelling or games could have had an effect. "Cheik played on Tuesday, and he didn't train yesterday (Thursday), but he did today, and the same goes for Aaron [Wan-Bissaka] and Patrick [van Aanholt], who also played, but haven't travelled as far. Keep up to date with the latest news, features and exclusives from football.london via the free football.london app for iPhone and Android. Available to download from the App Store and Google Play.<doc-sep>
Wilfried Zaha will be assessed on Saturday to see if he is fit enough to feature for Crystal Palace at Everton on Sunday, manager Roy Hodgson has said. Zaha withdrew from Ivory Coast's squad for their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against the Central African Republic earlier this week with a suspected adductor injury. Hodgson confirmed Zaha had suffered a strain but denied suggestions he was facing months out and was hopeful the 25-year-old could play some part at Goodison Park. Live Renault Super Sunday "I don't know where information that this was a two-month injury came from, we've never been mindful it would take a long time," Hodgson said. "It's a strain that players get on a regular basis, some recover quicker than others and we're fortunate he is a quicker than normal 'recoverer' but it will depend on the extent on the injury whether one week is a possibility in terms of recovery. Image: Roy Hodgson confirmed Christian Benteke could return to action as early as December "It's good news that he's close enough to be assessed, to see if he is fit enough to play. "But you're taking me into areas of sport science I don't feel comfortable talking about. My information is he hasn't trained with us since the injury, but they're hoping he might be able to train tomorrow. "If he is able to train tomorrow I guess he could be available to play." A potential return to action for Zaha on Sunday would be a boost for Hodgson, who has also shared positive news that Christian Benteke is recovering quicker than anticipated following knee surgery and could be fit by December.