Roy prays for Zaha ‘miracle’

WILF ZAHA will be given until the last minute to make a “miracle recovery” and face Everton tomorrow.

The Ivory Coast winger returned from international duty with another thigh injury and has not trained this week.

Crystal Palace have not won without their talisman in the side since September 2016 and manager Roy Hodgson said: “It is good news he is close

EVERTON CRYSTAL PALACE

enough to be assessed to see if he’s going to be fit enough to play.

“He is a quicker-thannormal ‘recoverer’. And if the player has an important role to play in your team, you give that person the largest amount of time you can.

“And the more important the player, the more inclined you are to hang on and hope for a miracle recovery.”

Everton manager Marco Silva, meanwhile, has revealed he has had one-onone chats with his players to boost their selfconfidence.

His talks are paying off and Everton can record three successive Premier League wins for the first time since January 2017 if they beat Palace. “I know we did well last summer in signing players with quality but we already had players inside the club with quality,” said Silva. “Some don’t believe how good they are. “Good results and good performances will help them believe, but I’m here to show them they have quality.”