Crystal Palace veteran in line for shock appearance against Chelsea

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson may have to turn to Julian Speroni between the sticks after Wayne Hennessey returned from international duty with a slight knock, reports The Independent.

Hennessey returned to Palace with a knock picked up at the end of Wales’ 1-0 defeat to Ireland on Monday following a heavy challenge from Ireland’s David Meyler.

The 30-year-old will need to be assessed closer to Saturday’s kick off against Chelsea but it could mean that Hodgson has to turn to fan favourite Speroni, who has not featured in the Premier League since the final day of the 2015/16 campaign.

Speroni has spent the last 13 years as a Palace player and spent eight seasons as the club’s No.1 goalkeeper before losing his place to Hennessey at the start of the 2015/16 campaign.

Palace have made a disastrous start to the campaign and it doesn’t get any easier when Hodgson’s side welcome champions Chelsea on Saturday.

The Eagles are the first side in Premier League history to lose their opening seven matches without scoring and, as well as their woes in front of goal, now have to worry about the prospect of fielding their reserve goalkeeper.