Speaking in his first pre-match press conference of the season, Hodgson said: “Unfortunately Michael Olise, as everyone knows, is still out for a considerable period of time after that very bad injury he picked up with France Under-21s after the end of the season.
“Will Hughes was the recipient of a really bad tackle when we played Millonarios in Chicago and that, again, is an injury which is going to take more time than we’ve been able to give him so far.
“The young boy Matheus França has come to the club and they detected a slight stress problem there, so the medical department don’t want to push him into training or do anything which could endanger him that area. For the next few weeks, until he has a second scan, we’ll have to do without him as well.
“He’s not on the field with us. He’s being looked after by the medical department and I’m hoping that one day, in the not-too-distant future, they will allow him to come out and train with us.”
When prompted with regards to defender Tyrick Mitchell, Hodgson confirmed: “He’s fit.
“He got injured playing against Millonarios. He stretched for a ball and it affected his quad [muscles] there. He felt that straight away, we took him off, he had treatment for 10 days, and since the start of this week he’s been back in full training because luckily it wasn’t a serious tear.”
Another player likely to be in Saturday’s squad is new summer arrival Jefferson Lerma, who could be in line to make his competitive Palace debut at Bramall Lane.
Hodgson said of the Colombia international: “The fans will like him. He’s a good signing, there’s no doubt about that.
“We were lucky to get him – his quality as a player, his experience, his character, the type of football he plays, his whole-hearted efforts which he has made for so many years now for Bournemouth which has resulted in him being chosen as their Player of the Year.
"I don’t have any fears whatsoever that our fans will take to Jefferson Lerma, and we hope they will take to to Matheus when we get the chance to see him on the field."