Roy Hodgson 'taken unwell' and will miss Crystal Palace's trip to Aston Villa

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson will miss Saturday's Premier League match against Aston Villa after being 'taken unwell'.

Palace have made an excellent start to the new season and travel to face Villa away from home, with one point separating the two sides in the table.

Palace are currently seventh, having taken seven points from their first four matches, while Villa are down in 10th on six points.

Palace announced ahead of kick-off that Hodgson, 76, would not be attending the match, with assistant manager Paddy McCarthy and first-team coach Ray Lewington taking charge of the side instead.

"Unfortunately Roy Hodgson was taken unwell earlier today and is not at Villa Park," read a club statement.

"Roy is in contact with Paddy McCarthy, who will take the team today assisted by Ray Lewington.

"Roy sent his best wishes to the team ahead of the match.

"We send our very best wishes to Roy."

Hodgson came out of retirement in March to take charge of Palace for a second time following the sacking of Patrick Vieira.

He guided them to an 11th place finish in the Premier League and was later appointed as manager on permanent basis for the 2023/24 campaign.

Speaking ahead of his return to the club, Hodgson said he always believed he could return to football despite his unofficial retirement.

"I had accepted that I had retired because that is what everyone has been saying," he said.

"If I walked down the street, people would say to me 'are you enjoying your retirement?' but at the same time, I have never felt old enough to retire.

"There has always been an opening there for project such as this one."

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