Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson confirmed that Wilfried Zaha is in contention for the Premier League match against London rivals West Ham United on Saturday.
The 30-year-old Ivorian has been out of action with a groin injury since April 1 when the Eagles defeated Leicester City 2-1 – which began a resurgence under Hodgson’s interim watch after he took over from Patrick Vieira.
Zaha has missed four games since then but Palace did well in his absence, winning twice, and drawing once before suffering defeat in their last match at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Hodgson revealed Zaha is back in training and stressed on the importance of his return as they have five games to wrap up the season to secure their survival status.
“Wilf Zaha has trained for a few days this week so we can add him to the squad, which is good, but otherwise it’s fortunately the same group that has been playing these last four or five games,” Hodgson said in a pre-game press conference.
“We’re delighted to see him back on the training field doing the sessions and exercises we’ve been doing because, for the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen him running around, trying to bring his fitness up to the level which will enable him to take part in a Premier League match.
“The need in our next five matches is to give good performances, and of course we don’t want to lose our best players going into them. I’m certain he’ll give everyone a boost and make our team stronger, due to the fact he’s now back with us, able to play.”
Zaha has played 24 times in the Premier League this season, scoring six goals and providing two assists.
Palace sit in 12th place on the log, eight points clear of the relegation zone.
