The Eagles will host Polish champions Lech Poznań on Thursday evening at Selhurst Park (20:00 BST) – with tickets available here – and could be bolstered by the return of two attackers for our league phase opener.
Last season’s top scorer Sarr has yet to feature competitively so far this season, whilst Nketiah started our first three games of the season, but missed Palace’s two home fixtures last week.
Sage said of Sarr: “He could be in the team tomorrow, as [could] Eddie Nketiah, because they started to train with us this week, and they are in shape.”
Asked further about Jean-Philippe Mateta and Dean Henderson – the former missing since the opening day of the season, the latter also absent from last week’s matches, Sage said of the duo’s returns: “I hope it will be after the international break.
“With long injuries, there’s more or less days. That’s why we hope and we will see.”
Although he will be absent on Thursday, it was announced just before the press conference that Henderson has signed a new contract with the club, committing his future to Palace until 2030.
Sage smiled: “We are really happy for us, we are really happy for him – it’s a long-term contract for our captain.
“For the moment he is injured, but he showed us during his first games that he’s really important for the team and we hope he’ll come back quickly, because he’s really important in the dressing room too. That’s why this kind of news is good news for us.
“As a player, he’s a really good goalkeeper, and as a man he has good leadership, he’s positive, and he’s always with his teammates, that’s why it’s really important to have him.
“But we have to consider him with the other goalkeepers too, because they do a good job altogether. If Dean's level is high, it’s because his teammates’ is too.”
Crystal Palace v Lech Poznan
- Thursday, 17th September
- 20:00 BST
- UEFA Europa League: League phase matchday one
- Selhurst Park
- Tickets available here.
- Live audio commentary on Palace TV+.