‘It was not his plan’ – Crystal Palace boss explains Eberechi Eze substitution in Newcastle draw with Ipswich up next

Oliver Glasner admitted he always wanted to bring Eberechi Eze off in the 65th minute as he steps up his recovery from injury in Crystal Palace’s 1-1 draw with Newcastle on Saturday.

The Greenwich-born attacker was making his first start since recovering from a hamstring injury he suffered in the 2-1 EFL Cup win at Aston Villa.

But Glasner took the England international off with the Eagles 1-0 down, with youngster Justin Devenny coming on.

Palace equalised late on through Daniel Munoz but have games against Ipswich on Tuesday night and Manchester City next Saturday to come this week.

“It was not his plan, but I was always thinking about it,” said Glasner.

“I mentioned that we have to manage [his injury] – it’s the same with Eddie Nketiah.

“The first sub was Justin, who I thought did very well.

“Eddie needed just 15 or 20 minutes today after his quick return.

“A big credit to our medical team and our staff. They worked pretty hard with all the players to have them back earlier than expected.

“It was what we needed. It was Jefferson Lerma’s first start today, many weeks after his injury – he was fantastic today.

“We could give Cheick Doucoure a rest – this is what we needed.”

PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD