Roy Hodgson has confirmed that Christian Benteke is now available for selection for Crystal Palace.
The Belgium international completed 45 minutes for the Palace Under-23s in their 3-3 draw against West Brom on Monday after a period out with a foot injury.
And Hodgson has confirmed that the striker will be back available to face Everton at Selhurst Park on Saturday, though whether he can force his way into a squad filled with competition for places in attack is another matter.
"Christian Benteke has been training all of this week so that’s someone I could count on of course for the game," Hodgson told reporters.
"One or two others have started to make an appearance but it’s a very brief appearance - not much beyond the warmup and any non-contact passing work.
"I enjoy [competition for places] from the club’s point of view and players’ point of view. "Because there’s no doubt players need that edge on keeping their standard to the high level that’s required.
"Competition for places is good for everyone at the football club and certainly as the manager.
"We’ve long since come away from believing football is an 11-man game, especially during lockdown when we were getting used to it being a 16-man game. The quality of your bench becomes of vital importance.
"We’ve been able to bring in players to bring in competition to our attacking phase of play. In Eberechi Eze and Michy Batshuayi we have players to score and make goals."
