Jean-Philippe Mateta sets date for Crystal Palace return after injury needed 25 stitches
Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta is currently out of action after suffering a nasty ear injury in a horror clash with Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts during the FA Cup clash earlier this month
Jean-Philippe Mateta is ready to wear a special mask to protect his damaged ear to play in the FA Cup quarter-final at Fulham. The Crystal Palace forward needed oxygen on the pitch and 25 stitches after a horror challenge by Millwall keeper Liam Roberts in the last round.
But the Frenchman is now back in training and wants to play in the South London club’s biggest game of the season. “Hopefully I can play - you never know,” said the Olympic silver medallist. “I am at the ground every day. The doc is the boss. He will decide. I will wear a mask I think.”
Roberts was hit with an extended six-match ban for his kung-fu kick challenge - and was a target of online abuse. “That is crazy,” Mateta told Sky Sports News. “The fans over-react. It is crazy social media. I didn’t send anyone to do this.
“He contacted me, texted me when he was in hospital. I tell him: ‘It’s ok. It’s football’. He apologised, he was worried. But he did what he did. “I think he did everything for me to not score. But he went too far. He made a big mistake. But it’s ok. It is not the first time you see this in football”
“I think he just made a mistake. I hope so. I don’t think he woke up and thought: ‘I want to cut the hair of JP!’
Mateta has said he initially wanted to play on after suffering his gruesome ear injury which needed 25 stitches. “When he kicked me, I was on the floor waiting for him to get the red card,” Mateta told said. “I was good to go. I thought, ‘just get the blood off and keep going’.
“I was arguing with the doctor for 30 seconds, saying I wanted to play. The doctor saw the injury, but I couldn’t see it. I couldn’t feel pain. The blood, for sure. But I thought it was a little cut. My ear was like this (dangling). But it was not painful.”
Mateta, who has scored 15 goals in 33 appearances for Palace in all competitions this season, has returned to individual training, but there is no date set yet for a comeback.
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