Crystal Palace hope Jean-Philippe Mateta will avoid knee surgery | OneFootball

According to The Standard, Crystal Palace hope Jean-Philippe Mateta will not require knee surgery, with the striker playing through pain as his minutes are managed.

Mateta was taken off after 63 minutes in last weekend’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester City and is expected to be rested against KuPS in the Conference League tonight.

Daniel Munoz has undergone knee surgery and is ruled out until next year, but Palace hope Mateta can recover without an operation.

Oliver Glasner is set to rotate heavily against Finnish side KuPS, and has said none of tonight’s starters will begin against Leeds this weekend.

Several academy players, including 15-year-old goalkeeper Lucca Benetton, have trained with the first team as Glasner looks to keep the squad fresh for a run of three games in five days.

Palace’s squad is increasingly stretched, with Daichi Kamada sidelined for up to eight weeks by a hamstring issue and Ismaila Sarr travelling to the Africa Cup of Nations.

Glasner’s contract expires in the summer, and he has called for more attacking reinforcements in the January window. He reiterated in his pre-match press conference that negotiations over his deal would not be a distraction as Palace compete on multiple fronts this season.

Source: The Standard