PALACE defender Jonathan Parr believes he will be back ready for the start of next season after suffering ankle ligament damage.
The Norwegian suffered the injury in the recent game at Ipswich Town after 23 minutes when Richard Stearman burst in with a hard challenge which left the 24-year-old in agony.
And to his credit, Parr attempted to return to the action but broke down again moments later before being substituted.
"The scan showed that the ligaments in my ankle were completely torn so it's going to take some time to heal," he said.
"It was really painful straight away after the tackle came in and I tried to get back on the pitch but it was just too painful, so I had to go off.
"It looks like it's going to be between two and three months out.
"I was disappointed at the time but I've found out now there's no point being disappointed now."
For the next few weeks, Parr will be taking it easy as he receives treatment at the club's Beckenham training ground but he insists he wants to help the team in whatever way he can from the sidelines.
And he says it is going to be an "exciting" end to the season with the play-offs the main target.
"I am going to stay for treatment this weekend instead of travelling with the team to Blackburn and I'll probably have a couple of days back home as well," he said.
"I am more nervous when I'm not playing than when I am.
"It's not fun to sit watching but I think we are in a great position to get into the play-offs and then anything can happen.
"It's going be an exciting couple of weeks even though I'm not on the field.
"I just have to support the rest of the team and play my part a bit different to what I would have liked, but I'm still a part of the team and I will try to do whatever I can to help them.
"I just have to let my ankle rest for the time being and let it settle down, just a little bit of movement in the ankle so it doesn't stiffen up.
"So far that's pretty much what's been going on and I'll probably do a bit more over the next few weeks – I am really hoping it's going to take less time than expected to come back.
"Now it's about looking ahead and we just want to do well now in the last few games.
"We want to win the play-offs."
Parr says he doesn't expect to start pre-season training with the rest of the squad at the beginning of July, while he revealed he's set to be in a protective boot until mid-May.
"It's a bit early to say at the moment but I am hoping to be back for pre-season training - it might be a couple of weeks in," he said.
"How long I will be on crutches now depends on how things go in the next few weeks but I have to be in the protective boot for four weeks approximately.
"We've had one so far, so just three more and then hopefully I'll be able to stop using the crutches."
And with the Eagles on the brink of securing a play-off spot, Parr has every faith in team-mates to get as many points as possible in the final three games.
"Personally I think we only need one more win to get into the play-offs but I think we're going to get more points than that," he said.
"I would imagine three points will do it, though."
