Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson has revealed that striker Christian Benteke will be missing until at least the start of December.
During a 5-0 defeat to Manchester City on September 23, Benteke sustained a knee injury which was initially expected to keep him on the sidelines for a maximum of six weeks.
However, rather than returning to action at the start of November, the Belgian forward faces another "four to five weeks" out of the squad.
Before his injury, Benteke had failed to score a goal in 522 minutes of league action, but Hodgson was in need of the 26-year-old after the club's problems in attack.
Not only have Palace scored just two goals in the top flight this season, the Eagles are five points from safety in the standings.
