Crystal Palace have been served a blow in their bid to beat the drop after announcing star defender Mamadou Sakho is set for a spell on the sidelines.
Sakho was forced off 25 minutes into Palace’s 2-2 draw against Bournemouth on Saturday and Roy Hodgson after the game confirmed he feared the worst for the Frenchman.
The 27-year-old joined Palace on a permanent deal from Liverpool over the summer for a fee in the region of £30m but is now unlikely to play again until next year.
“He’ll be out a long time, how long a time? I don’t know, they won’t put a time on it, but it’s serious muscle tear in his calf so I don’t know, but it’s weeks not days, I couldn’t say if it was months,” Hodgson told the club’s official website.
“We’ll miss him, in this period he’s played a decisive role, been captain, shown his qualities and when you lose a player like that you can’t be anything other than disappointed and sad.”
Sakho played a pivotal role in Palace’s escape from relegation last season during his loan stint at Selhurst Park and now Hodgson will have to navigate through the busy festive period without his best defender.
In fact, since the start of last season Palace have a significantly better win ratio in the league with Sakho starting (38.9%) compared to when he does not (19.4%).
