There will be no Crystal Palace debut for new signing Jean-Philippe Mateta against West Ham tonight after Roy Hodgson ruled the striker out.
The 23-year-old joined the Eagles from Bundesliga side Mainz last week, but issues over a visa have slowed his start to life as a Premier League player.
However, Hodgson said that it is unlikely the new arrival would have been used so soon anyway.
“It’s too early,” the Palace manager said. “There’s a few visa [matters] to sort out but hopefully we’ll get them sorted out quickly and he’ll be available very soon. But it would have been too soon to have him in the squad for tomorrow whatever [had happened].
“He’s looking good [in training], we’re very pleased to have him here. We’ve chased him for a period of time, and luckily the club was able to strike a deal.
“We’re hoping he’ll do as well as we anticipate.”
There will be no Hammers reunion for James Tomkins after what Hodgson described as "an accident" in training.
Crystal Palace XI: Guaita, Ward, Kouyate, Cahill, Mitchell, Townsend, McArthur, Milivojevic, Eze, Benteke, Zaha
Subs: Butland, van Aanholt, Dann, Ayew, Clyne, McCarthy, Batshuayi, Kelly, Riedewald
Tuesday 6pm, BT Sport
Venue: Selhurst Park
Last meeting: West Ham 1-1 Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace squad from: Guaita, Butland, Henderson, Van Aanholt, Mitchell, Dann, Cahill, Ward, Clyne, Kelly, Woods, Kouyate, Townsend, McArthur, McCarthy, Riedewald, Kirby, Eze, Ayew, Zaha, Benteke, Batshuayi, Pierrick
Injured: Ferguson (knee), Hennessey (thigh), Wickham (thigh), Tomkins, Schlupp
Unavailable: Mateta
