Jean-Philippe Mateta STARTS for Crystal Palace against Fulham – just three weeks after suffering horror ‘karate kick’ to head that saw him rushed to hospital and receive 25 stitches

Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta has made his return to the side three weeks after being hit by a horrific kung-fu kick by Millwall keeper Liam Roberts earlier this month.

The Frenchman  needed oxygen and 25 stitches to his ear after being brutally taken out during his club’s FA Cup fifth round tie with Millwall. 

He missed just one match for his club — a 1-0 Premier League home win against Ipswich — due to the international break but has been training and got through 60 minutes in a friendly. 

Mateta has now been named in Oliver Glasner‘s starting XI for Palace’s FA Cup quarter-final clash with Fulham. 

Speaking before kick-off, Glasner told ITV: ‘He’s such a lovely guy. He spent one week in bed, brought his mother over to England and she took care of him. 

‘The second week he started training individually and he was always laughing even  when his ear was still swollen. He trained well, he feels well so it’s good to have him back.’

Mateta was on the receiving end of a horror challenge by Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts

The Frenchman needed 25 stitches to his ear and will wear a protective headgear 

Mateta will wear protective headgear for the London derby at Craven Cottage.

Former Chelsea keeper Cech wore a protective head covering after suffering a fractured skull in a collision with Reading’s Stephen Hunt in 2006.

Mateta’s team-mate Chris Richards revealed that the headgear hadn’t protected him from becoming the butt of dressing-room jokes for his ‘bionic ear’.

‘He looks like a wrestler,’ said the American defender. 

‘He had a headband on, so we were saying the tennis player Francis Tiafoe. So there’s been a few shouts the last few weeks.

‘In training, he’s the exact same. I think he enjoys the attention a bit more now, but he’s been the same. Have I thought twice about going into a header with him? Not quite. He’s got that bionic ear now, so I guess we’ll see how it is tomorrow.’

Former Bayern Munich defender Richards is well versed in protected gear, having worn a mask for three weeks when he fractured his nose in Germany. 

‘I felt like Batman so it was pretty cool in that sense,’ he said. 

‘But psychologically, I was fine with it.’

In an interview last week, Mateta opened up on the damage to his ear.  

‘I was afraid I’d have broken bones or blood in my brain but in fact, my ear was just destroyed,’ he said. 

‘At the last moment, I had the reflex to turn my face. I was lucky because if I hadn’t, I would have taken his foot right in the head, and it would have been much worse.’