Crystal Palace head coach Oliver Glasner admits he has spoken to striker Eddie Nketiah to verify whether he suffered a hamstring injury during a private session with a personal trainer.
Glasner says the £30million summer signing from Arsenal has assured him the injury was not the result of any extra work away from club auspices following Saturday’s draw at Wolves, an answer the Palace boss insists he accepts.
The Austrian, though, was compelled enough to seek clarity on the situation amid internal concerns that the injury, which has been confirmed by Glasner, was not suffered whilst on club duty.
Mail Sport exclusively revealed on Thursday that Palace were establishing the full details of the muscular strain due to suspicions the problem was sustained away from their Beckenham HQ.
Indeed, Glasner has confirmed he spoke to the forward earlier this week, asking him whether he’d taken an extra session following last weekend’s 2-2 draw at Wolves – after which Palace players were given two days off.
Oliver Glasner has confirmed that he has spoken to Eddie Nketiah (pictured) about how he picked up his hamstring injury
There was concern over whether the forward suffered the injury during a private session with a personal trainer
Nketiah has assured his manager that the injury wasn’t sustained via extra work away from the club
Nketiah didn’t train as planned back at Palace’s training ground on Tuesday. Glasner says Nketiah did not feel the injury before or during the game against Wolves – but has since complained about a hamstring issue and had a scan.
Asked whether Nketiah’s injury was suffered during a private session, Glasner responded: ‘He told me he didn’t have one, so for me he didn’t have one.
‘If I ask the player – and the player answers me – I always trust him if I don’t know it 100 percent because there are so many rumours around.
‘The players had two days off – Sunday and Monday. Then (on Tuesday) there were those rumours.
‘I asked Eddie and he said ‘no he didn’t’. He didn’t feel the injury before the game, and he didn’t feel the injury during the game.
‘But the players have a lot of adrenaline and then he felt it – but like cramp.
‘At Aston Villa he was the guy who was sprinting most on the pitch, he played 83 minutes. It was my mistake and my fault that I didn’t substitute him earlier in the Wolves game.’
‘He then had a scan and it was more serious than expected.’
Asked whether Nketiah has a personal trainer, Glasner added: ‘In these time we are living, most of our players have their own coaches, physiotherapists.
‘On the one side we like professional players who care about their bodies. But this is a challenge every single club has now, trying to find the best communication.
‘Our fitness department and our doctors are always connected with the individual coaches of the players and it’s clear that if someone wants to train we always get the information.’