Schlupp unavailable for Crystal Palace trip to Bournemouth

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson announced that Jeffrey Schlupp will be unavailable for the Premier League game against Bournemouth on Saturday after getting injured in training on Thursday.

The Ghana international had been out with a hip injury since December 2019 and made a return after he was named on the bench in a 1-0 win over Watford on March 7, before the league was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.

He has, however, suffered a setback and will not be part of the squad along with his teammates James Tomkins and Martin Kelly.

Schlupp has scored two goals and provided two assists in the Premier League this season, both happening on back-to-back occasions.

His assists first game in a shock 2-1 victory at Manchester United and then a home win against Aston Villa, while his goals came in an away win at Burnley followed by the sole goal in the reverse fixture against Bournemouth at Selhurst Park.

"James Tomkins hasn’t recovered, we hoped he would but he hasn’t. Jeff Schlupp picked up an injury during our training sessions early on and he's still out with that injury and now Martin Kelly has picked up a calf injury to add to the thigh injury that he had and suffered from," Hodgson told me media.

"It’s a bit disappointing, especially with regards to James Tomkins and Martin Kelly, who were injured basically when we stopped and I was rather hoping they’d recover. But they’ve picked up fresh injuries."

The former Liverpool manager went to assert he has very little concerns about the fitness level of his team.

"I haven’t had general concerns over our fitness level. But it’s fitness levels over 90 minutes of intense football," he said.

"The fitness level you need to deal with that is always going to be an unknown until you’ve got a few games behind you."

Prior to the Premier League suspension, Crystal Palace won three games in a row all by a 1-0 scoreline, with Ghana forward Jordan Ayew scoring in two of them.

The 28-year-old is the South London outfit's top scorer in the league with eight goals, which is an English top-flight best for him.

Palace are 11th on the standings, 12 points clear of 18th-placed Bournemouth.