Luka Milivojevic has told his Crystal Palace team-mate Luke Dreher to "keep his head up" after the midfielder suffered another injury setback.
The 20-year-old Palace midfielder recently suffered a fresh blow after being ruled out with a serious knee injury, after enduring a nightmare couple of seasons with one setback after another.
But his captain has penned a touching message to the young midfielder in his programme notes for the Carabao Cup second round tie with Colchester United.
"Firstly, I'd like to start with a message to my team-mate Luke Dreher," the Serbian wrote.
"I was very sad to hear about the injury to Luke, because I had a similar knee injury nine years ago.
"It is not easy, but he is a young guy, with his whole football career in front of him. I told him to understand that injuries like this are part of the game, to keep his head up and keep positive because as soon as you realise that time goes quick, then so does the recovery and you will get back out on the pitch and get your chance again.
"I look forward to welcoming Luke back out onto the training pitch with us as soon as possible and continuing the impressive performances he put in with us during pre-season, he's a great guy."
Dreher's first involvement with the senior side came back in Alan Pardew's time in charge, with the then-teenager training with the first team and being an unused substitute at Old Trafford in April 2016 when the Eagles lost 2-0.
He also featured in pre-season ahead of the 2016/17 season, but suffered a serious injury that ruled him out for large parts of the campaign, with a succession of injuries preventing him from kicking on, despite impressing managers Sam Allardyce and Frank de Boer in their brief stints in charge.
Indeed, his senior debut for the Eagles did not come until the final day of last season, when he came off the bench late on in Palace's 5-3 win against Bournemouth in the Premier League.
But Milivojevic is confident that he will get his chance in the future.
