Football
‘He looks like a wrestler’ – Jean-Philippe Mateta to wear WATER POLO helmet in FA Cup clash after horror ear injury
JEAN-PHILIPPE MATETA will be donning a water polo-style protective headband on his Crystal Palace return on Saturday.
And Eagles boss Oliver Glasner has insisted: “If I didn’t believe he was ready, I wouldn’t play him.”
French striker Mateta is set to start Palace’s FA Cup quarter-final clash at Fulham – his first appearance since requiring 25 stitches in his ear after being hit with a dangerous kung-fu kick by Millwall keeper Liam Roberts in the fifth round on March 1.
After trialling three different versions, Mateta has been training over the international break in his FA-approved protective head guard – including in a behind-closed-doors match – which has been jovially mocked by Glasner and the Palace squad.
