Crystal Palace's Senegalese full-back Pape Souare could be sidelined for up to six months after breaking his thighbone in a serious car crash, manager Alan Pardew said on Friday.

"It was a terrible accident and we have a huge debt to the air ambulance and the terrific surgeons he's had," Pardew told a press conference.

"We hope he'll be released from hospital on Saturday and we think he'll make a full recovery. In four, five, six months, he should be up and running again."

Pardew said Souare, 26, was in "good spirits" after the accident on the M4 motorway near London Heathrow Airport, which also left him with jaw injuries.

Souare, a Senegal international, joined Palace from French club Lille in January 2015.

The south London club host Stoke City in the Premier League on Sunday.

Source: AFP