Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira has delivered a fitness update on talisman Wilfried Zaha ahead of this weekend’s clash with Newcastle United.
Zaha was absent from their squad facing Arsenal at the Emirates on Monday evening, following his return from international duty with Ivory Coast.
The Palace boss confirmed that Zaha isn’t the 29-year-old isn’t injured but is in fact suffering from illness that has prevented him from taking part in any of their pre-match training sessions.
Go here for all the latest Newcastle United news
He said: “Since he came back from international he wasn’t feeling well at all and he didn’t have any kind of training with the team so we decided to leave him at home.
"He’s getting and feeling better but wasn’t good enough for him to be part of the squad today.”
Vieira’s update means that Zaha is likely to be available for selection if he continues to feel better in the next few days, much to the disappointment of the Magpies.
The Eagles often struggle when their main man is absent and in the eight games they were without him last season, they won only once, in a 2-1 victory over rivals Brighton and Hove Albion, where they scored with the only two shots on target they registered throughout the 90 minutes.
Newcastle will also still looking for their first victory of the season when they make the trip to Selhurst Park on Saturday.
Steve Bruce’s side currently sit in the bottom three having picked up just three draws from their opening eight matches, with their five defeats coming against West Ham United, Aston Villa, Manchester United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur.
For the latest Newcastle news direct to your inbox, go here to sign up to our free newsletter
.png?w=600)
