Alan Pardew insists Crystal Palace can cope with their recent spate of injuries as they look to get back to winnings ways after their disappointing defeat to Sunderland on Monday night.
Bakary Sako was the latest casualty as he pulled his hamstring after coming on at half-time; and with Dwight Gayle still out because of the same injury, Palace’s forward line is a bit thin even though Marouane Chamakh and Connor Wickham have returned from injury.
For the visit of Pardew’s old club on Saturday, it looks as though he will only have Wickham, Chamakh and loanee Patrick Bamford available to him.
Palace need to find a ‘solution’ at home to score goals
Last season Palace struggled at home, and despite winning games against the likes of West Brom, and Aston Villa earlier in the season; their home continues to overshadow their impressive away form.
Pardew said that "Scoring goals has been an area that’s been a problem this year," and "Away from home when teams come onto us we enjoy it a little bit more, we won’t deny that.”
Sunderland has been just one of a number of sides who have sat deep against Palace: “But we have to find a solution at home and we have another chance on Saturday to see if we can,” said the 54-year-old.
Chamakh and Wickham are back in contention after both featuring against Sunderland, but they cannot be rushed back into action, particularly in Chamakh’s case.
“I don’t know if Marouane will be ready to start this weekend.
“He hasn’t really had a lot of game-time, but we probably have to feed him in as we go along. I don’t know if he [Chamakh] can really start on Saturday, but he has that class and quality when defences are deep to make the moment,” said the former Newcastle manager.
With Newcastle visiting this weekend; it's important for Palace to banish the memories of the Sunderland, and to put a positive display in, which will hopefully lead to all three points.