Jean-Philippe Mateta ear mask helmet
Protection: Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta wearing his water polo-style headgear at Craven Cottage
London Standard
Jean-Philippe Mateta is making his return for Crystal Palace today, sporting some rather unusual protective headgear.
The French striker has been handed his first appearance for almost a month as Oliver Glasner’s side meet London rivals Fulham on Saturday lunchtime in this weekend’s first FA Cup quarter-final tie at Craven Cottage.
It is Mateta’s first game since he was on the receiving end of a reckless high challenge from goalkeeper Liam Roberts during the 3-1 home win over Millwall in round five.
That challenge - described by Palace chairman Steve Parish as one of the worst he had ever seen on a football pitch - left Mateta needing lengthy treatment on the pitch.
He was transported to hospital and received 25 stitches to a nasty laceration in his left ear before being discharged later the same day. Roberts, meanwhile, was later handed an extended six-match ban.
Mateta recovered and quickly returned to individual training earlier this month and was recently given the all-clear to resume playing, featuring for 60 minutes of an internal match held by Palace during the international break.
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However, he needed a mask to protect his ear and Glasner revealed this week he had tried two or three with doctors - one of which was deemed too heavy - before settling on a preferred option that was approved by both the Premier League and the Football Association (FA).
The mask in question is more of a water polo-style protective helmet than the sort of Zorro-esque mask you usually see footballers wearing, typically to protect injured cheekbones.
It had been said that Mateta would wear similar to headgear of that donned by former Chelsea and Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech following the skull fracture he suffered in 2006, but Glasner explained he needed something that would offer more protection to the ear.