I think it forces us to play Ayew, which means we lose out on Olise. Ayew helps out in defence more - yet obviously lacks the vision and creativity of Olise. It's a bit of a conundrum right now. I'd be tempted to try Clyne and see if perhaps he's better in matches than he must seem in training.

Red and Blue Army!

Max Aarons is the answer. Wardy as a squad player. Ferguson to rehabilitate on someone else's dime.

I said at the time signing a player with a major injury was not good business. He was never going to replace Ward. Very shortsighted of the club not to look for a RB at least on loan in the January window instead of spending time chasing Van de Beek and Ramsey.

I love Wardy to bits and while I dont like fans turning on him I realise we need a younger replacement. Does anyone know if we have had the same medical team for a while as we dont seem very good at giving players a medical check up before buying them. Sunderland fans warned that Wickham was a sicknote and yet we still thought that was a good idea. I hope Ferguson is just unlucky with injuries up till now and will come good.

I suspect that this is due to, despite Ward not being the best right back on the planet, he is in fact the best right back at Crystal Palace football club. I could be wrong as could Patrick Vierra and Roy before him and you could be right or he could be being kept in the dark due to a rare eye condition that means he becomes unwell if exposed to sunlight.

It’s very sad to say for a kid of that age but I suspect Ferguson is going to have to find something else to do for the rest of his life because it seems his body can’t cope with the rigours of being a professional footballer.