The midfielder left the field of play shortly before the hour mark in Palace’s win against Aston Villa on 31st August, missing the international break with England, but looks set to return when Palace take on West Ham at London Stadium on Saturday (15:00 BST).
The Manager also provided an update on Eddie Nketiah, who is yet to feature in 2025/26 after suffering an injury in pre-season, as well as goalkeeper Walter Benítez, who starred on his Palace debut earlier this week, saving two penalties in our shootout win against Millwall.
Glasner said in his pre-match press conference: “Let's start with the negative: Walter Benítez was injured the day after the Millwall game.
“He dislocated his little finger, so he needs to rest now. He will miss West Ham and Liverpool. We are hopeful he can come back after the Liverpool game, but the next two games he is very likely to miss.
“The positive news is Adam Wharton and Eddie Nketiah are fit and back in the squad tomorrow. We have no other issues from the Millwall game, so that’s the positive part.”
Queried further on the duo, Glasner said: “I think Adam is fit enough to start. He just missed two weeks, 10 days, and then he started his training on the pitch, and he is with us now for a few days.
“Eddie is a bit different. He missed more or less the whole pre-season, he was out for the last six weeks, but he looked very good in training today and also on Wednesday, when we had a really intense session, so let’s see how the game is going, but both players looked very sharp in training.”
The Manager welcomed the additional strength in offensive depth which Nketiah’s return to the squad marks, providing an additional update on Ismaïla Sarr.
Glasner said: “Sometimes as a striker, after 60 or 70 minutes, you are very exhasuted and you have to work a lot, and then you bring in fresh legs which makes it difficult for the defenders, because the defenders get fatigue as well.
“It’s good to have Eddie back, but not just for his reason – we always want to have every player available and fit, so why we’re always working hard.
“Big credit to our medical department, to the rehab guys, and of course to the players as well. They worked really hard – it started with Daichi Kamada and also now with Adam and Eddie.
"Also, Ismaïla will start to train with us on Sunday after the West Ham game.
“Everyone is coming back earlier than expected, so credit to all of them.”
Speaking further on Jean-Philippe Mateta: "Usually, strikers always want to play every single minute.
"When you go through all the leagues, the games and watch the Champions League, Harry Kane plays almost every single minute, [Erling] Haaland plays almost every single minute, Mo Salah plays almost every single minute. The attacking players, the strikers, they always want to play because they want to score, they want to contribute to a win.
"And JP is the same, and it is just having the option that is good. When we need a goal, we always want our top striker on the pitch. JP is the top scorer for Crystal Palace in the last two years. He scored 31 goals in the Premier League in the last two seasons. If you need a goal, you always want the players on the pitch who showed that they can score goals, and that is JP.
"Games were very tight and we always needed a goal, so that is why we always kept him on the pitch."
Match Details
West Ham United v Crystal Palace
- Saturday, 20th September
- 15:00 BST
- Premier League
- London Stadium
- Live audio commentary on Palace TV+.