Mamadou Sakho is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after injuring his calf.

Sakho was substituted for Scott Dann in the first-half of the 2-2 draw with Bournemouth.

The injury comes as a huge blow for basement boys Palace, who signed the France defender for £25m in the summer.

Hodgson said: “He'll be out a long time, how long? I don't know, they won't put a time on it, but it's a serious muscle tear in his calf so I don't know.

“But it's weeks not days, I couldn't say if it was months.

“We'll miss him, in this period he's played a decisive role, been captain, shown his qualities and when you lose a player like that you can't be anything other than disappointed and sad”.

Meanwhile, Yohan Cabaye has been deemed fit enough to feature against Watford tonight.

The midfielder, like Sakho, hobbled off after taking a knock against Bournemouth.

Hodgson added: “He took a knock, didn't he? He was doing well, as he always does and he took a nasty kick.

“He was limping a little bit, plus we had worked hard, it was getting late in the game, so we thought it was a good moment to give Yohan a breather and get fresh legs onto the field.

“He's perfectly ok though, it was a kick, nothing more.”