Injury expert: Crystal Palace may have avoided ‘crisis’ after Zaha ‘phone call’
Crystal Palace may have avoided an “illness crisis” after Wilfried Zaha did not travel with the rest of the squad to face Arsenal on Monday.
That is the view of injury expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in medicine and data analysis.
Palace were denied three points by Alexandre Lacazette’s 95th-minute strike in the 2-2 draw at the Emirates on 18 October.
Zaha did not feature after manager Patrick Vieira told the club’s website that he “wasn’t feeling well at all” upon his return from international duty.
Dinnery claims that the 21-cap Ivory Coast man will have consulted with club doctors before the final decision was reached.
He told Football Insider correspondent Adam Williams: “You don’t want somebody who isn’t feeling well in and around the rest of the group.
“Immediately you’re looking to isolate those players from everyone else and avoid a bit of an illness crisis.
“With everything that’s going on in the world especially, they will have protocols in place. They will consult with the club’s medical department.
“A lot of the consultation with the medical departments these days can now be done via phone call.
“Depending on those conversations and the symptoms, the doctor might need to come out and assess the player.
“Alternatively, that might not be necessary if a player is just feeling a bit under the weather. That certainly ties in with what Patrick Vieira has said.
“He said he is improving. This game came too quick for him but it’s highly likely that he’ll be able to face Newcastle this weekend.”
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