Crystal Palace boss Hodgson reveals Schlupp scare during Manchester United showdown

Schlupp made his injury return against Manchester

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson reveals he was worried about a possible injury relapse for Ghana midfielder Jeffrey Schlupp during Wednesday's Premier League draw with Manchester United.

After two months in the treatment room, the midfielder made a comeback to action as an 84th-minute substitute as The Eagles held the Red Devils to a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park.

It was his first game since sustaining an injury during a 2-0 home win over Sheffield United on January 2. It was indeed mixed feelings for the 28-year-old about the New Year fixture as he scored in the game.

“I’m very pleased,” said Hodgson about seeing Ghanaian international Schlupp return to action, Londonnewsonline has reported.

“I was very concerned that in injury time he had to chase a turbo-charged Aaron Wan-Bissaka down the line, which bothered me a little bit because obviously the injury he had was a hamstring and he had to burst into top speed. I thought, ‘I really hope he’s not going to get a recurrence of the injury’.

“But I think he was really happy to know he could do that job because it was an important job he did in tracking Aaron down the right-wing.

“The return of Schlupp, the return soon of [Wilfried] Zaha and [James] McArthur, that will also help us in that area and I think if we can get a couple of the other ones back, we will be even more capable, if you like, of playing that sort of football that we played on occasions, today and creating more chances.."

Wednesday's outing makes it 16 league games for Schlupp this season, having started in 12 of the matches. Aside from the goal against Sheffield, he was also on the score sheet with an equaliser to ensure a sensational 2-2 draw for Palace against Tottenham Hotspur.

The German-born could be named in Ghana's squad for their upcoming 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying games against South Africa and Sao Tome and Principe on March 25 and 28 respectively.

Palace, meanwhile, host Tottenham in their next match on Sunday, with an ambition of claiming full points to improve upon their current 13th position on the league table.