Nathan Ferguson faces a longer wait on the sidelines to make his Crystal Palace debut, with Roy Hodgson revealing that the youngster has picked up a thigh strain.
The defender is yet to make his Palace debut after joining from West Brom in the summer, following an aborted move in the January transfer window.
A knee injury was discovered that prevented the 20-year-old from joining Hodgson's side, with surgery required that has ruled the right-back out of action ever since.
In recent weeks, the defender has joined first-team training in South London, with Hodgson stating that the club were allowing him to take part in a 'controlled' manner, restricting his time with other players in a bid to avoid a recurrence of the injury.
However, Hodgson revealed in his press conference ahead of the Premier League clash against Spurs that Ferguson has picked up a thigh strain that will set him back on the injury front,
However, Hodgson did state that the silver lining in the matter was that Ferguson's knee injury had not been impacted, and it was more of a result of stepping up the intensity of his training.
"It's quite sad news, in a way" Hodgson told reporters when asked how Ferguson was progressing.
"He was and is getting on very well and actually joined in with us this week and has become a bona fide member of the squad without having to moderate what he can and can't do.
"But unfortunately as sometimes happens in these situations, especially as he's young and enthusiastic, it's lead to him picking up a slight thigh strain.
"So at the moment we're waiting on the results of that thigh strain MRI. It's very unfortunate.
"But the good news is, it's got nothing to do with the knee injury, so that was good that he came through the training with his knee. No doubt his enthusiasm, stepping up the intensity of his training by joining in has unfortunately provoked a thigh strain.
"No, [I can't estimate how long he'll be out for]. He trained yesterday, it was only when I arrived this morning and spoke to the doctor and members of staff that they informed me that he wouldn't train today because of this feeling in his thigh.
"They told me they were going to get it scanned and so we'll wait and see what the answer is. I have no idea. I'm not prepared to get involved in any guesswork."
