Why is Jean-Philippe Mateta wearing protective headgear for Crystal Palace against Fulham? | OneFootball

French striker protecting injured ear with water polo-style helmet during FA Cup quarter-final return

Jean-Philippe Mateta is making his return for Crystal Palace today, sporting some rather unusual protective headgear.

That challenge - described at the time by furious Palace chairman Steve Parish as one of the worst he had ever seen on a football pitch - left a bloodied Mateta needing lengthy treatment on the pitch.

Mateta was transported to hospital and received 25 stitches to a nasty laceration to his left ear before being discharged later the same day. An apologetic Roberts, meanwhile, was later handed an extended six-match ban following a successful appeal by the Football Association (FA) to increase it from the usual three.

Mateta recovered and quickly returned to individual training earlier this month and was recently given the all-clear to resume playing, featuring for 60 minutes of an internal match organised by Palace during the international break.

However, he needed a mask to protect his ear and Glasner revealed this week that he had tried two or three with doctors - one of which was deemed too heavy - before settling on a preferred option that was approved by both the Premier League and the FA.

The headgear in question - worn in training over the last 10 days - is more of a water polo-style protective helmet than the sort of Zorro-esque mask you usually see footballers wearing, typically to protect facial injuries.

It had initially been said that Mateta would wear similar headgear to that donned by former Chelsea and Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech following the skull fracture he suffered in 2006, but Glasner explained that he needed something that would offer more protection to the ear itself.