Oliver Glasner recorded his pre-match presser in the aftermath of Thursday’s win over Shakhtar Donetsk, with the quotes embargoed till today.
Firstly, Glasner said the Eagles emerged unscathed from the midweek game.
“This was positive. So, no injury concerns. Again, then, we’ll have a day to decide [the team].” – Oliver Glasner
Eddie Nketiah (hamstring) and Cheick Doucoure (knee/muscle/match fitness) remain out, while Evann Guessand (knee) and Borna Sosa (unspecified) didn’t recover in time to feature against Shakhtar. Guessand had been in part-training ahead of Thursday’s game, however, so may be closing in on a return.
“You could see [against Shakhtar], again, that we had good options from the bench with an impact. Let’s see who is fit.
“We can’t take any risks with injuries, because we also play on Wednesday. Then we have one more day until [next] Sunday against Brentford, and then we have an entire week before Arsenal.
“At the end of the season, with so many games played, playing Thursday to Wednesday, three games in six days, is really tough. We have to find the right players and we will.
“Again, I don’t know exactly [how much I’ll rotate]. I could see Adam Wharton was really done at the end [on Thursday]. I could see T [Tyrick] Mitchell had a knock on his quad, was limping. I will get all the numbers. I think Ismaila Sarr was sprinting again, high numbers. Yeremy Pino worked so hard today. JP [Jean-Philippe Mateta], the same. Again, we have all the others doing well. I think it’d be wrong, and I never did this, blaming the rotation for losing against Bournemouth. We couldn’t find the focus that day, and they are all human beings. It can happen, I’ve experienced this a few times.
“On Saturday, I will get all the data, talking to the medical department, talking to my staff, talking to the players, and then we will start the team that looks best for this day.” – Oliver Glasner
The Eagles could have a pivotal role to play in the title race, as they face Manchester City and Arsenal in the run-in. The match with the Gunners, indeed, comes three days before the Conference League final.
Glasner has no reservations about looking out for number one, however.
“First of all, we want to win against Everton because then we are safe. We see all the teams at the bottom are winning. Tottenham now two wins in a row, West Ham, Nottingham Forest was on a very good run. So, all these teams are now closer and we are not 100% safe. That means get one more win and then we can think about the [Conference] League.
“Again, I don’t know right now how we will plan this because it’s also the first time for me playing the last league game on Sunday and then [the final] on Wednesday. When we had this with Frankfurt, we played the last league game on Saturday and we… played the same team that we played in the [Europa League] final as the last test.
“But I don’t know if this makes sense if you play Sunday and Wednesday. Fortunately, I have a bit of time to think about it and do my research and talk with my staff, and then we will plan the last week, but now it’s really getting the win against Everton to be really safe in the league and then making the second step.
“To be honest, if somebody criticises… for me, sorry, if I can say this, it would be nonsense. It’s just the last game but there were 37 games played before. That means if another team on Matchday 25 rotated against City or Arsenal, they affected the title race as well. I’m not responsible for Arsenal, I’m not responsible for Manchester City; I’m responsible for Crystal Palace and I get paid for doing the best things for Crystal Palace and not for City and not for Arsenal.
“Again, I don’t know what we’re doing [in Gameweek 38]. Maybe we’ll be playing with the same line-up that we’ll play against Vallecano but again, maybe it feels like the league title is decided on the last day but at the end, it’s a result of 38 Matchdays and at the end, everybody gets what he deserves.” – Oliver Glasner
