Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta targets FA Cup quarter-final return | OneFootball

In an interview with L’Équipe, Jean-Philippe Mateta (27) revealed when he is targeting to return to action with Crystal Palace. The Frenchman is currently out with an ear injury, which required 25 stitches, after he collided with Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts in the FA Cup.

Mateta has been out for over two weeks since he suffered his horrific ear injury and is not expected to return to training with the Premier League outfit until next week. The striker will be forced to wear a mask when he returns to training in order to protect his ear following plastic surgery.

‘I want to go back to Wembley’

Hoping to return to training next week, Mateta has earmarked a target to return to playing action with the Eagles. When asked about a potential return date, the 27-year-old said, “The goal is to play in the quarter-finals of the Cup against Fulham.” The quarter-finals of the FA Cup are set to be played on the 29th of March.

If Palace can defeat their London rivals, they will secure a place in the semi-finals of the cup competition, which are played at Wembley. The forward hopes to return to the national stadium of England, “We want to qualify for the semi-finals, which will be played at Wembley. We achieved that when Vieira was coach, and we lost in front of more than 70,000 spectators… Despite the defeat, it’s a wonderful memory: I want to go back to Wembley.”

GFFN | Liam Wraith