Roy Hodgson 'taken unwell' and will miss Crystal Palace's visit to Aston Villa
Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson will miss his side's trip to Aston Villa on Saturday through illness.
The Eagles travel to Villa Park for their crunch clash with their Premier League rivals but will have to do so without their manager. The 76-year-old will not be at at the stadium, but will be in contact with coach Paddy McCarthy, who will take the team alongside Ray Lewington.
It's unclear what illness has prevented Hodgson from fulfilling his duties but, in a statement released a couple of hours before their 3pm kick-off, the south London club said: "Unfortunately Roy Hodgson was taken unwell earlier today and is not at Villa Park.
"Roy is in contact with Paddy McCarthy, who will take the team today assisted by Ray Lewington. Roy sent his best wishes to the team ahead of the match. We send our very best wishes to Roy."
Ahead of the game, Hodgson refused to rule out the possibility of his side one day qualifying for Europe like Saturday’s opponents Villa. The Eagles return from the international break seventh in the Premier League with two wins, a draw and a loss to start their season.
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Last month, Villa kickstarted their first European campaign in 13 years, comfortably winning both legs of their Europa Conference League play-off against Hibernian to advance to the group stage.
Hodgson predicted Palace could have a chance of cracking the continent themselves in the future. “Leicester City, who are now actually in the Championship, won the Premier League,” Hodgson said. “I remember. It’s not that long ago. I was actually at the game, I was there.
“Anybody who ever says this is not a chance or not a possibility for us is underestimating what can happen. We just have to keep working and trying as hard as we can to improve our squad, to improve our team, to improve our play and to see how far that brings us up the table.
Hodgson will be in contact with coach Paddy McCarthy, who will take the team alongside Ray Lewington (PA)“I certainly don’t write off the chance of Crystal Palace at some stage getting into European competitions because teams like Brighton, and the way Brentford have done the last few years have shown us the way.”
Centre-back Marc Guehi, who was handed two starts for Gareth Southgate’s side during the international break, is also missing after jarring his hip in the first half of England’s 3-1 victory against Scotland.
Hodgson said: “It’s a problem that we think can be easily managed, or he isn’t unduly worried about, but the game has come too soon unfortunately. Had we had 10 days, or even four or five, we might have got him fit, but I’m afraid the day’s training he’s done wasn’t enough time.
“It’s not something that’s occurred because he’s trained and played two matches with England. It’s because, in the game against Scotland, he jarred his hip and that has unfortunately exacerbated this minor problem he plays with every week.”
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