Crystal Palace suffer shattering blow in survival bid

Crystal Palace’s hopes of avoiding relegation from the Premier League have been dealt a shattering blow with news star striker Christian Benteke will miss at least six weeks with a knee injury, claims The Daily Telegraph.

Benteke limped off with less than 20 minutes remaining in Palace’s 5-0 defeat to Manchester City on Saturday after suffering ligament damage in his right knee.

The Eagles, who are already without Wilfried Zaha until after the international break, are currently bottom of the Premier League after losing each of their first six games without scoring a single goal and scan results have now revealed Benteke will be sidelined for at least six weeks.

It means that Roy Hodgson is now without a recognised available striker after Palace let Loic Remy and Fraizer Campbell leave the club over the summer, coupled with their inability to sign Everton striker Oumar Niasse.

Connor Wickham hasn’t played in almost 12 months and is also injured, leaving Hodgson with an almost impossible task to keep Palace in the Premier League unless they can sign a free agent to bolster their offensive options.

Palace’s defeat to City at the weekend ensured the Eagles became the first club since Portsmouth in the 2009/10 campaign to lose their first six league games, and worryingly for Hodgson, Pompey also finished bottom of the league that season.

Benteke has had 10 shots in the Premier League without scoring this season, while only Andre Gray (41) has been flagged offside more times in the Premier League since the start of last season than the Palace striker (39).