Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew eager for Joel Ward return

Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew has revealed that he is eager for Joel Ward to get back to fitness as soon as possible after the defender missed Saturday's defeat to Hull City.

Ward was forced to sit out his first match of the season yesterday as the Eagles were beaten 2-0 at Selhurst Park.

Pardew now hopes that the 25-year-old will be available for next Sunday's trip to Chelsea in the Premier League.

"We're fingers crossed for Chelsea for Joel. I'm sure Chelsea aren't, but we are, because he's an important player for us who has had a great season, and he was a loss to us [against Hull] for sure," he told Sky Sports News.

"Missing Wardy was a problem for us against Hull. We were poor. We weren't at it at all, and we'll address that in our way. It's hard to say what was missing. We missed a little bit of quality from the back, midfield wasn't quite as I would have liked and our forward line wasn't quite as I would have liked."

Ward recently signed a new deal with Palace, committing himself to the club until 2018.