Roy Hodgson has confirmed that Crystal Palace will be without defender Martin Kelly when his side take on Everton on this weekend, as reported by Football.London.
The Eagles will travel to Goodison Park for the early kick-off on Saturday, looking for their first win in all competitions since Boxing Day, when they beat West Ham 2-1 at Selhurst Park.
Everton, meanwhile, are unbeaten in four games, and will look to continue that run against the Croydon based club in their pursuit of Europa League qualification.
Palace will have to fend off the Toffees without versatile defender Kelly, who has suffered a calf strain and has been ruled out by Hodgson.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, as reported by Football.London, Hodgson said:
We’ve lost Martin Kelly, in the training players sometimes do after a game, he managed to pick up a slight calf strain.
It’s enough to keep him out of this game.
Kelly will join Jeffrey Schlupp and Mamadou Sakho on the sidelines for Crystal Palace, while Cenk Tosun is unable to face his parent club.
Everton, meanwhile, will miss Fabian Delph, after he was sent off against Watford last weekend.
Read Everton Verdict
Unfortunately for Everton, Joel Ward escaped a sending off for Crystal Palace against Sheffield United last weekend, after VAR reversed the initial red card decision. Had Ward been given his marching orders, Palace would be without a natural right-back for the game at Goodison Park.
As things stand, Ward will likely lineup on the right side of defence, making Kelly’s absence no huge loss for the Eagles, although losing Tosun will be a somewhat significant blow for the club, who have relied on the Turkish international in recent weeks.
With Richarlison, Alex Iwobi and Gylfi Sigurdsson all back in action for the Blues, Everton should believe that they have enough to claim all three points against the Eagles.
