Wilfried Zaha has been ruled out of Cote d'Ivoire's 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Guinea due to a hamstring injury.
The 26-year-old was initially included in the Elephants' 23-man squad for the crucial encounter scheduled for the Stade 28 Septembre on Sunday.
But it has been revealed that Zaha, after causing Chelsea some troubles, suffered a hamstring injury in his side's 3-1 defeat in the London derby a week ago.
He subsequently missed the Eagles' 1-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday and manager Roy Hodgson hopes that the fleet-footed forward who has scored three league goals this season returns in time for their Premier League fixture against Manchester United after the international break on November 24.
"He [Zaha] picked up a hamstring injury against Chelsea and it was always extremely unlikely he would recover in time, basically it is trying to get him fit for Manchester United," Hodgson told club website.
"Wilf being Wilf never wants to rule himself out and hopes that miraculously, despite not having trained, something might happen between Friday and Saturday that would allow him to get out there, but that wasn’t the case as both my doctors and physio staff had told me."
Last month, Zaha pulled out of the Ibrahim Kamara's squad and missed the reverse fixture of their game against Central African Republic in Bangui due to a thigh injury.
Cote d'Ivoire, placed second in Group H with three points adrift of leaders Guinea, need at least a point in Conakry to maintain their qualification spot.
