Roy Hodgson gives verdict on Jordan Ayew following his return against Sheffield United

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Crystal Palace faced Sheffield United in the Premier League on Tuesday and celebrated a 3-2 win.

Eberechi Eze scored a double, while Michael Olise also got his name on the scoresheet after providing two assists.

Jordan Ayew returned to Palace after being away with Ghana for the AFCON 2023.

The Black Stars had an early exit as they didn’t qualify from the group stages.

During the Africa Cup of Nations, Ayew recorded 2 goals and 1 assist in 3 games.

“I think when they’re playing and Jordan Ayew too, because he’s come back from the African Cup of Nations and we’ve missed him for three or four weeks, and Jean-Philippe Mateta, to be fair, he’s played exceptionally well with those four players in our side, I think we create chances in a totally different way and cause problems for teams in a totally different way than perhaps we’ve been able to do when we’ve not had them,” Hodgson said.

“But that’s the same for every team if you take out the most creative players, the most talented players. It would be nice if I’d been able, in some of these games we’ve been playing, to put three or four players who I think are very good players in the team and even the teams up a little bit, but you can’t do that.

“But I’ve always believed that the team has got a lot of quality, and I think in the first-half in particular, I thought we showed that. Over the first 60 minutes, we really showed it.”