The Palace manager, who enthused about having “a lot of players back” last week before facing Leicester City, provided the update in his pre-match press conference.
“Gary Cahill has recovered so he’s back in the squad which is good,” he said.
“We’re still missing James McArthur of course and longer-term ones: Mamadou Sakho and Nathan Ferguson and Connor Wickham, who’s still not 100% ready. Otherwise it’s quite a big squad by comparison going into end of last season, which is very positive.”
Discussing the squad more widely while reflecting on his time at the club and addressing the opposition, Hodgson said: “I don’t think there are many teams who’d have in their squads for tomorrow [so many of the same players] four years down the line, so I’m very proud of that.
“I don’t doubt for one minute we will be facing a full-throttle Manchester City, that they’ve taken their foot off the gas or eye off the ball, to mix metaphors, in any way, shape or form.
“But I can’t deny of course if I was Manchester City’s coach, I would be thinking: ‘Blimey, this game coming up in the middle of what’s going on is not ideal.’ I’m full of admiration for Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United, playing these incredibly difficult games in the middle of an important Premier League campaign.”
Palace are preparing for one of the toughest challenges of their season against the champions-elect, City. You can build-up to the clash with our in-depth preview here.
