Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson revealed his relief that the 'nasty' eye injury James Tomkins suffered following an accident at training last month did not lead to the defender's premature playing retirement.
The exact details of the incident that led to the problem ahead of Palace's fixture against West Ham on January 26 are unknown, but Tomkins has been under the knife to correct a couple of issues and faces a long convalescence.
While upbeat about Tomkins' return before the end of the season, Hodgson refused to put a timescale on a comeback as he insisted his only focus presently is the 31-year-old recovering his full eyesight.