Tribal Football

Crystal Palace striker Mateta: I was stopped from playing on!

Paul Vegas
Crystal Palace striker Mateta: I was stopped by playing on!
Crystal Palace striker Mateta: I was stopped by playing on!Profimedia
Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta has opened up on his ugly clash with Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts a fortnight ago.

The collision early into Palace's FA Cup win left Mateta being rushed to hospital and needing 25 stitches in a head wound.

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There is now hope the Frenchman will be playing again by the end of the month.

Mateta told L'Equipe: "I was afraid I’d have broken bones or blood in my brain. But in fact, my ear was just destroyed.

"A plastic surgeon came and took photos of my ear, which he refused to show me so they wouldn’t stay in my head."

He added: "At the last moment, I had the reflex to turn my face.

"I was lucky because if I hadn’t, I would have taken his foot right in the head, and it would have been much worse.

"After that, I never lost consciousness. I was lying on the ground, and I said to the doctor, ‘I’m fine, I want to play again.’

"But he, seeing my ear, replied, 'No, you have to go'."