Crystal Palace handed major fitness boost ahead of Man Utd, Tottenham and Leeds clashes
Oliver Glasner has provided a positive Crystal Palace fitness update ahead of a key run of results.
Oliver Glasner has confirmed a Crystal Palace fitness boost ahead of a tricky run of fixtures. The Eagles are back in Conference League action on Thursday night, and attention will then turn back to the Premier League for a date with Manchester United.
The Eagles then take on Tottenham and Leeds United, and if they can pick up four to six points from those two games alone, one would think Palace can count themselves save ahead of trickier games with Manchester City and Newcastle United.
Glasner’s men are currently on 35 points and 10 points ahead of the relegation zone, and while effectively safe, they will want to all-but confirm their safety by picking up another five or six points as soon as possible.
But first they must defeat Zrinjski in the Conference League if they want to advance, currently level after the away leg. In the first leg, Palace lost key defender Maxence Lacroix to injury and there were concerns the centre-back could miss at least a few weeks.
But in a big boost ahead of those big upcoming games, Lacroix is going to be back in contention, if not for Thursday night’s game then for the weekend. “There is still a small question mark with Maxence,” Glasner confirmed.
“He trained the session [today, Wednesday]. In a few situations he could feel a little bit of weariness, but he looks okay. We now have little more than 30 hours [to kick-off], with treatment and everything… All others are fine – so nobody returns, but also nobody [new] is injured.”
Nketiah update
One player who won’t be returning yet is Eddie Nketiah, who will be out until the spring. “I mentioned it [last week]: Eddie had a setback and it will take him now a few more weeks,” added Glasner.
“We are now at the end of February. We expect him back in training… I think it will be the end of March, but because we don’t have games, it looks like it will be April [on the pitch].”
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