Crystal Palace boss ready to go full strength as he prepares for first part of Arsenal double-header

BY ALEX PEWTER

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner is not prioritising one competition over another as he gets ready for a double header against Arsenal.

The Eagles’ EFL Cup quarter-final against the north Londoners takes place tomorrow evening and then the fixture is repeated – this time with Premier League points at stake – on Saturday at Selhurst Park.

In terms of selection, that means Glasner will lean towards picking the strongest team where fitness is not a concern.

He said: “It would be a bit different when we also have European games because then you play every third day for a long period, but we’ve had last week to rest and to prepare [for this busy week]. Then this week is plain recovery, so in a three-game week, doing this once isn’t a big problem.

“Where there is no risk of an injury, the player will play. Or if the player is feeling tired, he will get the rest. But today, nobody told me that, and the data looks okay. Of course, this is only the second day after a game and 40 hours after the final whistle at Brighton. So the players are not fully recovered today, but this is what we would expect.

“Then it’s important at 19:30 tomorrow that they are ready and at the best fitness level, and I’m sure they will be.”

Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eberechi Eze were two players who left the pitch on Sunday with injury questions. Both exited the pitch in the 60th minute. Glasner gave a quick update on their status ahead of the cup match.

“JP is okay, and with Ebs we will make the final decision tomorrow,” he said. “It looks quite good, but he got a hit on the top of his foot. It’s swollen, but he could do a little bit of training today.”

With a largely clean bill of health, other than setbacks to both Adam Wharton and Chadi Riad in their individual recoveries, would that make it harder or easier for Glasner to select his team?

“It makes it easier when the players are fit and in good shape. You could see it at Brighton when we were struggling that bringing in fresh legs can help you. We can’t win a game with 11 players. We always need the squad.

“With a tighter schedule of Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday, where Arsenal have one day more [of recovery], we need all of them. As we’ve mentioned, Daniel Munoz is out, and two or three weeks ago, we expected Adam Wharton to be available [now].

“Now we have more numbers. Joel Ward is back after a rest against Brighton. Some may have noticed Chris Richards wasn’t in the [last] squad because he became a father for the first time and had a well-deserved break – and he is back with a big smile.”

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