Tom Barclay has failed to rule out the possibility of Eberechi Eze returning to action in November.
The 23-year-old has been sidelined since suffering an Achilles injury before the end of last season but Patrick Vieira recently revealed that he's progressing well.
What happened to Eze?
Eze, who's scored 29 goals in his career, was enjoying a promising first season in the Premier League since making the £19.5m move across London from Queens Park Rangers last summer.
He might have taken seven appearances to record his first goal contribution, but then two came along in the same match when he scored and assisted in the 4-1 win over Leeds last November.
Eze would provide just one more assist before Christmas but upped his level in the second half of the campaign and ended with an impressive four goals and six assists in his debut top-flight season.
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However, Eze was deprived of being given the chance of adding to that tally when he suffered an Achilles injury in training and would miss Crystal Palace's final two league fixtures.
Former manager Roy Hodgson described the injury as a "freak" but also said that it was "serious" – and the ex-Millwall youngster was expected to miss at least six months of action.
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Six months from then would be towards the end of November and Barclay was optimistic about his chances of playing next month, although he recognised that you need to be careful with long-term injuries.
What did Barclay say?
When asked about a potential return date for Eze, he told GIVEMESPORT: "I think next month there's still a chance, but I would still rate it as an outside chance, because you just don't want to rush these things with an injury like that."
Will Eze come straight back into the team?
It'll obviously be tempting for Patrick Vieira to bring him back into the starting XI, but the last thing the Frenchman will want is for him to suffer a setback.
Providing Eze's comeback all goes to plan, and he proves his fitness, he should eventually work his way into the starting line-up, but the attacker will have to prove his fitness and gradually increase his minutes before risking too much too quickly.
Once that happens, there's nothing stopping Eze from becoming a regular starter again on the right-side.