Crystal Palace face Luton Town at Selhurst Park as Oliver Glasner looks for back-to-back home wins as Palace boss to steer his side clear of the relegation zone that they sit just eight points above at the moment.
A win against Luton on Saturday could see the Eagles provide an eleven-point buffer between them and the relegation zone and even go level on points with Bournemouth, should results go their way.
Glasner has had a relatively strong start to life in SE25, lifting the mood around the club and returning a win in his first game against Burnley.
However, his first trip on the road as Palace boss did not end as he would have liked as Palace succumbed to a late 3-1 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur.
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Freedman in demand
This week, Crystal Palace's sporting director, Dougie Freedman, has been heavily linked with the head of recruitment role at Manchester United in light of the INEOS takeover.
Eagles boss Oliver Glasner addressed claims that the former Palace striker could be set for a move to Old Trafford.
"It just shows me what I was already thinking: that he is a great sporting director and a great person, and that is how I see Dougie after two weeks."
Freedman has massively impressed as Sporting Director at Selhurst Park with impressive scouting bringing the likes of Marc Guehi, Joachim Andersen, Michael Olise, and Eberechi Eze to the club.
"I’ve had a lot of talks with him; he has a lot of technical qualities for scouting players; he knows players all over the world; and he's a fantastic guy.
"If there are rumours, it shows that other clubs see him in the same way, although I don’t know if the rumours are true or not."
Glasner added that Palace are rapidly approaching preparations for the next campaign, with a busy summer expected in SE25, explaining that Freedman has a big role to play.
"We haven’t spoken about the squad next year; I wanted to get to know the players who are here, but we will start in the next week. The feeling that I have is that we plan the squad for next year together and we will work together for a long time."
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History beckons at Selhurst Park
On Saturday, referee Sunny Singh Gill will become the first British South Asian to officiate in the Premier League as Crystal Palace take on Luton.
"It's great because it shows everything is possible for everybody. We want to live in such a world where you don't have to care if you are a man or a woman if you are from any culture, everything is possible if you work on it. I think it's a great statement for the Premier League.
"There is one moment in life where everything is the first time, and for him it's the first time being a referee in the Premier League.
"I had the same two weeks ago, my first game, and I hope it will be as successful as my first game!
"He deserves it because he had great performances as a referee, so he doesn't need any advice from me."
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Injury latest
Looking ahead to the huge six-pointer at Selhurst Park, the Eagles boss provided a key fitness update on Eberechi Eze.
“He did every session from the first until the last minute – he is fit, he looks very good, and of course his goal gives him more confidence.
"He was able to play 65 minutes without any problems, so he will play more minutes in this game if everything is fine with him."
However, Glasner did confirm that Matheus Franca will be unavailable for Palace after sustaining a groin injury.
“We will miss França tomorrow, he has a problem with his groin."
Glasner rounded up his fitness update by confirming that Jeffrey Schlupp who hasn't featured since Crystal Palace's 4-1 loss at Brighton has returned to training.
"Jeffrey Schlupp had the training session today.
"He won’t be in the squad tomorrow, but then we have three weeks with no game, and after the national team break I expect him to be back in the squad.
"So this gives us more options. It is always good as a manager to have the players on the pitch [rather] than in the gym.”
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A strong test awaits the Eagles
Glasner admits that Luton will provide an extremely difficult proposition to his Palace side who have struggled against teams who are physically strong, fight hard, and dig deep this season.
"They are a very physical team and play man-to-man defence, [win] many duels, and they play very fast into your box. I think [they have made] the most crosses in the league, with approximately 35 percent goals after set-pieces."
But the new Palace boss seemed quietly confident ahead of the encounter in South London.
"We have a lot of respect, but we play at home, we play at Selhurst, and we are ready for the game. I'm really happy with the training week we had. The players did very well, are very focused, and that's what we need tomorrow.
"Be focused, take the duels, win the duels, and then we will get our opportunities."
Glasner acknowledged that the pressure is on Palace to out-battle the Hatters, who currently sit in the Premier League's relegation zone, four points behind seventeenth-placed Nottingham Forest.
"They’re very physical, very aggressive in scoring, and they also have their way of playing that made them successful for many years, and you won't change it from one week to another, so we expect them to play like they always play, with a lot of physicality, a lot of intensity, always pressing, always duels, but of course, then it's up to us to create space.
"The difficulty is to find the space, because you're always under pressure, but if you find it, you have opportunities to score, and this will be the challenge for us, to come out of this high pressure, and find the spaces, and attack the spaces with players where we can create chances and opportunities."
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High praise for the Hatters
Europa League-winning coach Oliver Glasner spoke of his admiration for Luton who were playing in the Conference just ten years ago.
"You find these Cinderella stories all over the world, and it just shows that they’ve done a great job there.
"You have to deserve it, and they deserve it, and they’re doing really well in the Premier League, and we respect it, but we will fight for the three points, because we also need them."
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"Accept the reality"
Palace currently sits fourteenth in the Premier League with 28 points after 27 games, with many people feeling that the Eagles have underperformed this season. But Glasner stressed that his side must "accept the reality" and improve to get to where they want to be.
"I never talk about [the table] in both directions. It's the reality, and this we have to accept, because I don't like it if somebody says: ‘Oh, you are so good, you should be seventh’ – no, if you are 13th, you deserve 13th.
"So, accept the reality. We are analysing our game. In any part of the game we can improve, we want to improve, and then it's up to us as a group, that we show it, and then, when we are in a better position, then we can talk about if we deserve maybe 11th."