Roy Hodgson left unhappy after Crystal Palace fixture rearrangement leaves them without injured stars for another game

BY SAM SMITH

Roy Hodgson has lamented the decision to move Crystal Palace’s fixture against Manchester United to Wednesday evening.

The game was initially scheduled to be played on March 20 but has been moved to this week because of Manchester United’s continued involvement in the FA Cup.

The rearrangement adds to a congested fixture list for a Palace side who are struggling with injuries. However, they now have a weekend off due to the FA Cup ties taking place on the weekend of March 20.

Palace were knocked out of the cup by Wolves in January and it has been argued that they could play another side eliminated from the competition that weekend to ease their schedule. The Eagles’ final three opponents – Aston Villa, Arsenal and Liverpool – have also been knocked out.

Asked about the injured Wilfried Zaha’s availability for Palace’s next two games, Hodgson said: “I doubt it, unfortunately. The Manchester United game that has been thrust upon us is something that we are pretty unhappy about – especially in the current state of affairs when we have so many first-team players unavailable.

“It’s pretty tough to have to play Man United now and then have three weeks off when we don’t need three weeks off. I’d have much preferred if this game had stayed where it was but it’s part and parcel of being in the Premier League and being involved in FA Cup competitions.

“The powers that be feel the need to move games some sometimes it will suit a team and sometimes it won’t. But I’ve got to say that the game coming up doesn’t suit us. I’d much preferred to have had a week now to get guys back into shape and give those guys at least a few more days to possibly be ready.

“And most importantly, to let ourselves recover from two unbelievably difficult games that we have had to face against Brighton and Fulham where we have spent a lot of time working very hard to defend our goal.”