Jean-Philippe Mateta will make his first Crystal Palace appearance on Saturday since being hospitalised with a lacerated ear, with manager Oliver Glasner confident the striker has not been psychologically affected by the incident.
Mateta was kicked in the head by Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts in the eighth minute of the teams’ FA Cup fifth-round meeting four weeks ago and required 25 stitches, with Roberts – who was sent off – receiving a six-match ban.
Palace eventually won 3-1 to set up Saturday’s quarter-final against Fulham at Craven Cottage where they will be looking to land a third Wembley appearance in the cup in 10 seasons, and are buoyed by their top scorer’s readiness to return.
The 27-year-old, who has scored 15 times in all competitions this season, will wear a protective helmet in west London.
“He feels comfortable (with helmet). When he scores a header tomorrow then it was the right mask with the right protection,” Glasner said.
“When I’ve watched JP in training he looks the same like before. He needs to get back into his rhythm, he couldn’t train for two weeks. One week he was just at home then he trained for a week individually.
“He’s been lucky that nothing was fractured, no concussion. It was just the ear. I know it was a terrible injury. Some players say that the ear looks better than before now.”
Asked whether he was worried Mateta might be affected mentally by the injury and be reluctant to go into challenges with his head, Glasner said: “He did it the whole last two weeks.
“The doctor and the team did a great job finding the right protection. We tried two or three different ones, everything is approved by the Premier League.
“If I believed it’s a problem, I wouldn’t play him.”
Saturday’s quarter-final will be Palace’s first game since sporting director Dougie Freedman left the club, reportedly in order to take up a role in the second division in Saudi Arabia.
Freedman was the architect of some of the club’s most significant recruitment after taking up the post in 2017, including the capture of Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton who were all scouted in the Championship.
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Glasner said he was confident that Palace’s summer transfer business will not be negatively affected by the departure.
“The good thing is we’ve already started weeks ago with our recruitment, what we want to do in summer,” he said. “It’s not like we don’t have any players or solutions. Everything is on the pathway.
“It’s a new situation for the club, a very important guy leaves after eight years, it’s something new.
“I was always involved in the process (Freedman’s departure) so it didn’t really come as a surprise to me. He’s been here for eight years and he’s looking for a different challenge and also not here in the Premier League. He took this decision for himself and his family.
“There’s no disappointment. Dougie was always quite open.”
