When Wilfried Zaha trudged off in tears on Saturday (April 1) with an injury, there were immediate fears that his season and also his Crystal Palace career was over.

According to reports, it will only be three weeks out, which will help quell some of the initial fears.

The tears, however, tell a story of a player who knows what he will answer to the question posed to him at the end of the season. Crystal Palace’s top Premier League goal scorer of all time looks set to turn down a new contract.

Even through an injury-ridden season, he has been Palace’s best player and offers will undoubtedly be on the table even if they are not the big Premier League clubs he would have dreamed of a few seasons ago.

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He would hope to return for the West Ham game if all goes well so, before focusing on long-term questions, how will Roy Hodgson replace his talisman for games against Leeds, Southampton, Everton and Wolves?

Against Leicester Roy’s formation of choice was 4-3-3 and he used Eberechi Eze in a more central role. This configuration allows for the winger by trade to be pushed into a more advanced role, with the likes of Albert Sambi Lokonga or Will Hughes used to cover in a midfield role.

When Zaha was forced off the field, Jordan Ayew replaced him and grabbed the assist for the winning goal, which might persuade Hodgson into a straight swap for Leeds. It was Ayew’s second assist of the season in what has been an underwhelming campaign in terms of output.

Whatever Hodgson goes for, the hope will be that the injury does not dampen the positivity from last weekend’s win.