Crystal Palace’s FA Cup third round tie against Stockport could see several players missing after a major illness in the squad this week.
Manager Oliver Glasner says the Big One has prevented several players from training and admitted he doesn’t know who will be available for Sunday’s game.
“We had a lot of sick players or a lot of question marks this week,” Glasner said at a press conference.
“As of today (Friday), Jean-Philippe Mateta, Maxence Lacroix and Tyrick Mitchell have not trained. Caleb Kporha trained for the first time today, but Dean Henderson went home sick today.
“It could be that one or two people come back tomorrow but of course won’t be available to start when you’ve been in bed with a fever for most of the week, so there are still a lot of question marks.
“But all the healthy players made it pretty easy for us because even with a small number we had one of our best weeks of training in months.
“I am very happy with how the training sessions went and that gives me a good feeling for the upcoming three-game week.”
News from the Palace team
Palace midfielder Will Hughes is a strong doubt with a foot injury, while Adam Wharton is recovering from surgery to correct a hip and groin problem.
“Adam is making progress but is still a long way from training with the team, but things are getting better,” said Glasner.
“I can’t tell you if it’ll be two weeks or three or four, but it’s pretty unlikely he’ll be back in January.”
Palace transfer news
Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner says the club is working to bring in two players during the January transfer window.
Palace were reportedly on the market
“As soon as we sign a player we will tell you. “We are working on two transfers, but I don’t know how quickly we will implement them,” said Glasner.
“If we talk about it, it will only get more expensive!”
Glasner also revealed that no Palace player has told him they want to leave the club during this period, with interest in Marc Guehi from the centre-back’s former club Chelsea.
“If we manage to keep the team together – because we are very happy with the development of the players in the last few months after a not easy start – that looks definitely positive.”
“Nobody told me they wanted to leave. That’s the most important thing: the players want to stay here.”
