Hodgson happy at Palace as he brings up 100 games in charge at Selhurst Park

Roy Hodgson is “very happy” at Crystal Palace ahead of his 100th game in charge of the club.

Monday’s clash with Brighton at Selhurst Park will bring up three figures for the boyhood Eagles fan.

Hodgson remains in discussions with Palace about extending his contract, which expires at the end of the season and, while there remains no news, it is expected he will continue in his role beyond this campaign.

“I’m very happy here and very happy with how things have gone and the support I’ve received from the club and the players,” he told reporters.

“We’ve performed to the level we can be expected to perform to and sometimes a little bit higher.

“I’m very happy to be celebrating 100 games with the club, that is a good record these days, but I hope to go beyond 100 games too.”

Palace have been dealt a blow, albeit an expected one, with the news Jeffrey Schlupp and Patrick Van Aanholt will not be fit to face rivals Brighton.

It means Jairo Riedewald is expected to start in the Premier League for the first time since February 2018.

The 23-year-old should feature at left-back, which is not his favoured position, but he performed admirably there after coming on as a substitute during the 0-0 draw at Watford last weekend.

Schlupp was forced off at half-time of that fixture with a muscle problem and days earlier first-choice left-back Van Aanholt suffered a hamstring injury in the win over Bournemouth.

Hodgson added: “Those two won’t be available. Joel Ward is not available. Certainly those (are sidelined).

“Unfortunately there are one or two others who might get added but I’m not willing to discuss that now.”

Palace will also be without Mamadou Sakho as he serves the second of his three-game ban for his red card against Bournemouth.

If Hodgson loses any more players, it will be a serious blow ahead of the biggest fixture of the season for the Eagles.

On when Schlupp could recover, the former England manager added: “There’s no return date.

“He’s very keen to get back as soon as possible. He’s working hard to that end but again I’ll have to wait and see how his rehabilitation progresses.

“With muscle injuries, the date when the player returns is of vital importance because we see so often when a player comes back they get injured again because the muscle hasn’t quite recovered.”