Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson has confirmed Wilfried Zaha will miss their Premier League game against Newcastle United on Friday as he continues recovery from coronavirus.
Zaha is currently in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19 before the Eagles’ league match against Burnley on Monday.
Following a 1-0 loss at Turf Moor earlier this week, Crystal Palace, who are aiming to return to winning ways against Newcastle United, will be without their leading scorer.
Zaha is expected to have another coronavirus test during the weekend which must return negative before he can rejoin his teammates.
“He’s still got to serve out the period of isolation,” Hodgson told the club website.
That will take him I think to Saturday when he’ll be tested again and we’re hoping that will come back negative. He’s been feeling okay, which is often the case when people test positive.”
Zaha has scored five goals in eight league appearances this campaign and his absence was felt in their 1-0 defeat at Burnley.
Since his returned to Selhurst Park from Manchester United in 2014, Crystal Palace have lost 20 of their 28 Premier League games without the Ivorian winger and Hodgson has described him as a “very important player”.
He added: “He’s a very important player. It’s always the case whenever you have a player who’s hit the headlines for his club in the way Wilf has done for us and lots of other players you could name for other clubs in the same category, it’s normal when the team plays without that player and don’t get a result, everything focuses around the man who’s missing.
“Of course you miss those players but you miss them playing their best football and you can’t guarantee they’d be playing their best football… We tend to endow the player who’s not playing with incredible quality. But we did miss him of course and always will miss him when he’s not playing because he’s such a good player.”
