CROCKED Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta wanted to carry on playing despite suffering a gruesome gashed ear in the FA Cup win over Millwall.
Lions goalkeeper Liam Roberts was sent off for a horror kung-fu kick to the head which resulted in the Frenchman needing 25 stitches.
But Mateta was unaware of the seriousness of his injury and told Palace’s doctor he wanted to continue before being rushed to hospital.
Mateta, 27, declared: “When the keeper kicked me, I was on the floor waiting for him to get the red card.
“I was good to go. I thought, ‘just get the blood off and keep going’.
“I was arguing with the doctor for 30 seconds, saying I wanted to play. The doctor saw the injury, but I couldn’t see it.
“I couldn’t feel pain. The blood, for sure. But I thought it was a little cut.
“My ear was like this (dangling). But it was not painful. I remember everything, I was not concussed.”
Yet, despite Mateta insisting he wanted to carry on – the plastic surgeon who repaired his ear was left totally stunned.
Mateta recalled the doc “didn’t know how he would start”, adding: “They showed me, the doc showed me three days after. He didn’t want to show me. But I was like, “show me the picture.
“Everything was open, cut here, cut open, behind was worse, cut everywhere. It was crazy.”
Mateta insisted his “reflex” head turn away from Roberts’ kick “saved me.”
Ref Michael Oliver sent off the keeper – but only after a VAR intervention.
Roberts – who suffered online abuse – has since been handed an extended six-match ban.
Mateta underwent a successful operation in Paris last month to save his left ear.
And, wearing a huge white bandage on the side of his head, he told Sky Sports: “Liam texted me while I was in hospital and I told him, ‘it is OK, it is football.’ He apologised. He was worried.
“I don’t think he woke up and thought: ‘I want to cut the head of JP.’ There is a lot of pressure.
“He wanted to do good, too much emotion makes you do crazy things. It was just a mistake. You learn from it.”
Mateta, who has scored 15 goals in 33 appearances for Palace this season, has set his sights on an FA Cup quarter-final return against Fulham on March 29.
He added: “I will need to wear a mask, the best one, but, hopefully, I can play.
“I feel great and can’t wait to come back. But the doc is the boss. He will decide.”
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