Crystal Palace defender Nathan Ferguson has suffered a fresh injury blow and will not be in contention to play for the remainder of the season.
The 22-year-old sustained a muscle tear in his leg which is expected to keep him out for another month and end any prospect of a senior appearance this season, even if he was already unlikely to feature.
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Ferguson has had to contend with three years of injury misery after picking up a serious knee problem in January 2020 while still with West Bromwich Albion. He signed for Palace that summer under freedom of contract, with a tribunal ruling that compensation of £900,000 was due in November 2021.
Ferguson, who is out of contract this summer, had been making good progress in his return from injury, returning to action with the Palace Under-21 side and impressing in training, but another minor problem occurred last month.
He then suffered a new leg injury in training a couple of weeks ago and any chance of featuring under manager Roy Hodgson at the back end of this campaign is now out of the question.
“It’s an injury which is going to keep him out for a period of time,” Hodgson, who has been impressed by Ferguson, said on Friday.
“It’s a muscle tear. I was here when the club brought him to the club. We were very excited about him coming to the club — we thought we had a little diamond on our hands.
“What has happened to him over these three years has been a real tragedy. It’s been particularly tough for me to take this time, seeing the disappointment he’s now got to come over once again, because, for two weeks, he was training out there and was looking good.
“I had no warning that he was going to pick up another fairly serious injury, which is nothing like that one which kept him out for years.”
Ferguson ruptured his Achilles in May 2021 shortly after returning from the knee injury he sustained while still at West Brom.
He made his first-team debut for Palace as a late substitute in that year’s Boxing Day defeat by Tottenham Hotspur, but those eight minutes remain his only time on the pitch in a Palace shirt outside of under-21 matches.
A hamstring problem sustained in February 2022 ruled him out for a further eight weeks, before a foot injury kept him sidelined for six more weeks at the start of this season.
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After featuring for the under-21 side, he had a setback which kept him out until January.
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“He’s going to have to be very tough,” Hodgson continued. “The club will help him as much as we possibly can. I know the players around him will because he’s a popular figure at the club.
“But for him, personally, that’s a real mental challenge to come over. This time, we felt: ‘You’re ready now. You can start seriously knocking on the door and asking for a place in the team.’
“To suddenly find yourself out now until probably next season, that’s a tough, tough ask.
“I hope he can get over it and gets the support he needs. We will do all we can. We’re really, really disappointed for him – he doesn’t deserve that.
“Everything he’s done deserved a better fate than this one.”
Meanwhile, neither Wilfried Zaha (groin), Vicente Guaita (calf) or Nathaniel Clyne will be available for Saturday’s fixture with Everton. The trio remain sidelined with injury, but Hodgson hopes Zaha will return for the visit of West Ham next week, with Clyne also expected to return to training.
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(Photo: Getty Images)
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