Journalist Tom Barclay has revealed that Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen has not suffered a long-term injury.
The Danish centre-back sustained a hamstring injury which forced him to miss the 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday, ending his run of appearing in every Premier League game this season.
Eagles manager Patrick Vieira confirmed that Andersen won't travel to Elland Road for tonight's game with Leeds, but Barclay doesn't believe that the 25-year-old is facing a long spell on the sidelines.
What happened to Andersen?
Since moving to the Premier League last season, the defender has been extremely reliable on the pitch, but also in terms of his his availability.
After making his top-flight debut last November, Andersen missed just one league fixture for Fulham and had featured in all 12 of Palace's games this term prior to the weekend game with Villa.
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Andersen didn't start at Chelsea on the opening day, but then played every minute in the next 11 fixtures and has formed an impressive partnership with Marc Guehi, helping Palace make a fine start to life under Vieira.
But Andersen's absence was felt against Villa as Vieira's side saw their seven-game unbeaten run come to an end following the 2-1 defeat.
However, Barclay is confident that Andersen's setback isn't long-term, and he could therefore be back in action sooner rather than later.
What did Barclay say?
He told GIVEMESPORT: "It's a blow, the two of them looked really good together. They've been good signings having watched both of them quite a lot.
"They're still trying to work out the nature of it, but I'm led to believe it won't be a long-term injury."
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Who could start alongside Guehi against Leeds?
With Andersen, who joined for £15m from Lyon, unavailable against Villa, Vieira was forced to change his centre-back pairing for just the second time this campaign.
The only other time Andersen missed out was against Chelsea, where Cheikhou Kouyate started alongside Guehi. However, against Villa, James Tomkins stepped in to make his first Premier League start of the season next to the ex-Blues youngster.
According to WhoScored, Tomkins was Palace's third-best defender, but with little options in reserve, he's likely to keep his place in the side when the Eagles travel to Elland Road.
Martin Kelly is capable of playing at centre-back, but he's not made a competitive appearance this season, which should allow Tomkins to start once again.