‘It shows the squad depth’ – Jeffrey Schlupp on Palace winning without Zaha and Gallagher

Jeffrey Schlupp praised the depth in Crystal Palace’s squad as they coped with the absence of Wilfried Zaha and Conor Gallagher to win 3-0 today against Norwich City.

First-half goals from Odsonne Edouard, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Schlupp saw off Dean Smith’s side.

The Eagles were without Zaha after he was sent off in the 3-0 defeat by Spurs on Boxing Day and Gallagher was not named in the squad, with assistant manager Osain Roberts not prepared to divulge whether the Chelsea loanee had tested positive for Covid-19.

Schlupp said: “It shows the squad depth. They’re obviously two massive players for us who have done very well this season.

“It’s important to have a good squad. We have managed to build a very good squad, and even with players missing, we have still managed to put on a performance such as that and come away with a 3-0 win.”

The South Londoners opened the scoring when Edouard converted a penalty that Will Hughes won in the eighth minute.

“It’s always important to get that early goal against any team in this league – we know it’s going to be a tough game regardless of who you’re playing,” said Schlupp.

“They’re obviously going through a difficult period, but we knew they were going to come here, fight, and look at this as an opportunity to maybe get some points.

“We managed to put on a professional performance and managed to pick up an important three points for us.”

Mateta scored his first goal at Selhurst Park since joining on loan from Mainz in January, finishing off Edouard’s cross inside the area.

“I’m very happy for him – you could see by the way we celebrated with him,” said Schlupp of the 24-year-old French forward.

“Of course, he’s had to be patient and work hard on the training pitch, which he has done all season, and he managed to get an opportunity today, and he took that very well with his goal.”